Boxes
by Laura Louisa Lewis
Summary: Jamie decides it's finally time to clean out the boxes of his brother Joe's possession stored in the attic of the family home. What he finds in those boxes sets off a series of changes, both personal and professional.
1. Weekend Plans

_A year ago, a reviewer suggested I write a story incorporating both Joe Reagan and Eddie Janko. Well, BlueBlood82, it took a while, but here it is!_

 _Thanks also to Lawslave, who provided valuable assistance getting this story to the end!_

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – Weekend Plans**

"Hey, Kid, what's up?" Danny Reagan called to his brother as slid into the seat next to Jamie at the end of the bar. He gestured for the bartender to bring him a drink.

Jamie turned away from his beer to greet Danny. "Been a few weeks since we've got together for a beer after work."

Danny took a seat next to his brother. "You know the job. Busy investigating one of your kind right now, Harvard."

"One of my kind?"

"A lawyer. Some employee of his law firm died under suspicious circumstances, and it starting to look like our guy was stealing client funds from the firm. Can't prove it yet. You attorney types are slippery."

Jamie snorted and took a drink of his beer. "One reason I'm not an attorney type anymore."

"Amen to that." Danny raised the glass the bartender had placed in front of him and clinked it into Jamie's, then swigged down some of the beer. "Hey, where's that short blonde you're usually with? Seems like you two are inseparable anymore."

"Eddie's out with some of the guys, at that bar right across the street from the 12th. This one was closer to you."

Danny frowned. Unexpectedly, Jamie hadn't taken the bait and denied any relationship with his partner. Something must be bothering his kid brother. "You look like someone with something on their mind."

Jamie smiled slightly. "I was up in the attic at home last weekend, looking for something…"

"Something?" Danny interrupted.

"That paper I did in high school on the construction of the Empire State Building," Jamie added with a sigh as he saw Danny start smirking.

"Reliving your glory days as the high school star student, you nerd?" Danny teased.

"No. I wanted to look up one of the books I'd used as a source. But all those boxes of Joe's stuff were in the way of my boxes. The things we moved back from his apartment after…"

"Yeah," Danny cut in.

"I was thinking maybe it's time to go through that stuff. Sort out what to keep and give away the rest. Thought you might want to help."

"That's really your stuff now, remember? Joe left all his things to you."

"I know. But it'll go faster with two of us. I figure we could get it done in an afternoon."

Danny picked up on what Jamie really needed. Moral support when he started walking through that emotional minefield, and the memories that it would bring up. "'course I'll be there. When?"

"Saturday afternoon? You could bring Linda and the boys over. We could go out for pizza afterward. Make a night of it."

"Sounds like a plan." He gripped Jamie's shoulder. "How about a quick game of pool? Then I need to be heading home. Lin and the boys."

"If you feel like losing, sure," Jamie teased as he stood up.

Danny shoved his brother. "Smartass." He followed Jamie over to the pool table for a friendly game before he headed home.


	2. Attic Full of Memories, Part 1

_Bonus second chapter to get things started, then back to one a day starting tomorrow. L.L.L.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Attic Full of Memories, Part 1**

 _Saturday Afternoon_

"Hello, family," Danny called out as he walked in the front door of his childhood home.

"Danny, we're back here," Henry responded from the kitchen.

Danny headed back to the center of activities. "Hi, Pops. Hi, Dad," he greeted. "Erin, what are you and Nic doing here?"

Erin crossed her arms across her chest. "It is my home too, Danny," she replied. "Grandpa is teaching Nicki and me how to make cookies."

"Yeah, since I'm going to be in an apartment next year, I thought I should learn how to cook a few things," Nicki added.

"Good that you have your priorities in orders. Cookies first," Danny teased.

"If good fences make good neighbors, it stands to reason that good cookies would make even better neighbors," Frank said from behind the Saturday newspaper.

"I'll take both," Danny commented. "Where's the kid?"

"If you're referring to your brother Jamie, he's in the garage, getting some boxes together."

"Right here," Jamie called out from the doorway from the garage. He pushed three boxes into the room. "Hey, Dan. You're here just in time to help me haul these to the attic."

Danny grabbed a box. "Let's get going. We've got a lot to do before dinnertime."

==BB==BB==

"Okay, where do we start?" Danny asked his brother as they arrived in the attic.

Jamie looked around. "Those boxes. The ones marked kitchen stuff." That seemed like a safe starting point; he wasn't likely to find much in there that brought up too many memories. Joe hadn't been much of one for cooking at home. Jamie grabbed one and pushed it toward his brother. He opened the other one himself.

A three ring binder sat on top of the contents. Jamie picked it up. "Hey, Dan, remember this?"

"Mom's 'how to not starve' cookbook," Danny commented.

Jamie opened the notebook. "Page 1 – How to boil water. Page 2 – things you can cook with boiling water. Instant Ramen, pasta with store-bought sauce, hard boiled eggs, potatoes." Jamie closed the book. "I don't remember mine being so basic."

"That's because you actually paid attention when Mom tried to teach us how to cook. Joe preferred eating to cooking."

"I guess so." Jamie smiled, then dropped the notebook into the 'keep' box. There was no way that was going in the trash, not with the memories it held of both his mother and his brother.

Danny opened his box. "Well, that's disgusting," he immediately commented.

"Huh?"

"Someone packed up a bowl of fruit. I think," Danny explained. He picked up the bowl and showed Jamie what appeared to be an aged apple, orange and banana. "This is going right in the trash. This too," he added as he picked up the green, fuzzy blob that had once been a loaf of wheat bread. He started to add the bread to the trash pile, but then had another idea. "Hey, kid, wanna have some fun?" he asked his brother.

"Fun? How?" Jamie asked suspiciously. Danny's idea of 'fun' had often involved wedgies, noogies and deadlegs, mostly at Joe's and his expense.

"Watch this. Erin! Hey, Erin, come here for a minute!" Danny called downstairs to his sister. He smiled at Jamie.

Erin stepped into the attic a minute later. "What do you want, Danny?"

Danny chucked the loaf of bread to his sister. "Found something you might like," he teased.

Erin easily caught the loaf of bread. "What is …" she began to ask, then shrieked and threw the bag back across the room. "Gross! Ugh!" She wiped her hands furiously on her pants. "Where did that come from?"

"My apartment, obviously," Joe Reagan told his siblings. Not that they could hear him today. He walked over to the attic stair opening and sat down, his legs hanging down into the staircase.

Danny couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer.

"Somebody packed it," Jamie gasped out between laughs.

"Erin's always hated bread mold," Danny told his brother. "Makes her react like that every time she sees it."

Erin crossed her arms across her chest and tried to regain some of her dignity. "Well, it's gross." She couldn't control a small shudder.

"Sorry, Sis," Danny tried to apologize around another laugh.

"Evil little boys," Erin huffed. She looked around at boxes Jamie and Danny had opened. "If you find any good kitchen items, Nicki could use them. I don't think she realizes how much all the things she'll need in an apartment are going to cost."

"Sure thing, Erin. We'll make a separate pile of stuff she could use," Jamie said.

"You want us to put that bread in it?" Danny asked.

Erin's non-verbal, one-finger response as she headed back downstairs told them exactly what she thought of that idea.

" _Sis_! How unladylike of you," Joe teased. He swung a foot toward Erin's upraised finger. "Hey, do I smell cookies?" Joe followed Erin toward the kitchen.

Jamie chuckled and turned his attention back to the box. The remainder of it appeared to be kitchen wares; things Nicki could definitely use, such as mixing bowls, a few pots and pans and utensils, most looking virtually new. Jamie drug that box over to the top of the stairs for Nicki to look through. "That box ought to save Nic a couple of hundred bucks," he commented.

"This one too. It's all plates and glasses and flatware." Danny stood up and added his box to the one Jamie had just moved. "And that's all the kitchen boxes."

"I bet Nikki could use my TV. It was only a year old," Joe commented around a bite of cookie.

Jamie looked around the attic. "Wonder where Joe's TV and stereo are? That would save Nikki even more money."

Danny did a quick survey of the attic. "I see the TV." He pulled it out from behind a few boxes, and added it to Nikki's college apartment pile. "What next?"

Jamie looked over the pile of boxes. "That one. The one labeled bookcase."

Danny attempted to lift the box, but quickly put it back down and started shoving it to Jamie with his foot. "Damn heavy. Who put books and stuff in such a big box?"

"Don't know. But that's your writing on the side," Jamie teased.

"Let's see what we've got." Danny cut the box open. "Yep. Books. And some CDs and DVDs also."

"We can probably give these away," Jamie commented as he sorted through a stack of CDs. "I've got most of the music on Joe's iPod."

"We should let Nic and the boys sort through them first. There may be some they'd want."

"Yeah, and you know what their reaction would be? ' _Dad, CDs are so last century. Everything's digital now,_ '" Jamie teased.

"Ungrateful little snots," Danny commented. He turned his attention back to the box. "Hey, look at this. _G.I. Joe_ and _Transformers_ cartoons. These were great! My boys will like these."

Jamie glanced at his brother. "Yeah, _Jack_ and _Sean_ are going to like those."

"Shut up. You were too young to appreciate classic after-school television like this." Danny carefully put the DVDs aside to take home.

Jamie and Danny quickly finished sorting through the remaining DVDs, setting aside a few for their own collections and a few for their father and grandfather. Then they turned their attention to Joe's surprisingly intellectual and eclectic collection of books. In addition to the expected paperback techno-thrillers and mysteries, there were also a few history books, some poetry books, a couple of theological works, including a collection of C.S. Lewis' writings, and a book or two of art works. But the last book Danny pulled out of the box was most surprising: the study guide for the NYPD patrol sergeant exam for 2009.

Danny stared down at the book.

"What do you have there, Dan?" Jamie finally asked.

Danny held up the book. "Looks like Joe was planning a course change for his career. Going back to patrol."

"Of course I was planning a course change. Seriously, do you think the warrant squad would've welcomed me back after I ratted some of them out to the FBI?" Joe commented. "Besides, little brother was about to join up as a patrol officer. Wanted to work with him."

"Not like he could stay with the warrant squad, if he hadn't… If he'd succeeded. Not after working with the FBI to bring down dirty cops in that unit." Jamie quickly stood up and started moving items into the sell-donate-keep boxes, trying to keep himself from thinking too much.

"Good to know that Joe had thought about what came next," Danny muttered. As Jamie walked past, he held the book out to his brother. "Here. You take this."

"What for?"

"To study up for the exam, kid. It's about time you moved up the ranks."

"Take it, kiddo. Danny's right, for once. You can't stay a patrol officer forever." Joe encouraged.

"Whatever," Jamie sighed. But he still took the book from his brother and dropped it in his 'keep' pile.


	3. Attic Full of Memories, Part 2

_Thanks_ _for the reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Attic Full of Memories, Part 2**

"So, what's next?" Danny asked.

Jamie picked up a plastic bag. "This can go right in the donate pile. I don't think Joe's bedding would fit Nicki's style." He grabbed Joe's suitcase and pushed a box labeled 'clothes' toward Danny. "This stuff."

Danny ripped open the box. "Bet we're giving most of this away, unless Dad wants a new wardrobe."

Jamie tried to smile. "Yeah. Joe was more Dad's size. Not sure they have the same style, though."

"That's because I actually bought clothes more recently than 2005," Joe joked. "Got to keep your look up-to-date to impress the ladies. One of you should tell Dad that."

Jamie laid the suitcase he'd grabbed on its side and opened it. He froze as he looked at the item on top of the clothes.

"What's wrong, kid?" Danny asked.

Jamie picked up the dry cleaning bag and turned it toward Danny. "I helped Joe pick this suit out. Christmas after my first year of law school. The career office at Harvard had put on a seminar about professional dress, and Joe insisted that made me a fashion expert. _His_ fashion expert."

"Not bad, Harvard. You had good taste." Danny suddenly remembered something related to that suit-shopping trip; a story that no one had likely told Jamie yet. "Hey, did Joe ever tell you why he needed a new suit then?"

"Oh, no. You're not telling that story," Joe ordered. "Hey Dan, fresh cookies downstairs. Go get one."

Jamie shrugged. "I figured it was just time to buy a new one?"

"Did I mention they're chocolate chip? Your favorite?" Joe tried again. He walked over to his little brother and put his hands over Jamie's ears. "You don't want to hear this one, kiddo."

"Nope." Danny smirked. "There was this guy Joe and his partner were picking up on a warrant for some little stuff. But this guy decided to run. Anyway, Joe gives chase, down the street and past a firehouse and an elementary school, and hurdles over this low fence into this park, and…"

"Oh, no," Jamie moaned, as he realized where this story was going.

"His suit pants split all the way up the back from crotch to waistband. But Joe caught the guy anyway, then he had to walk that guy all the way back to his car with pants split. Back the same way he came. Over the fence – where the split caught in the fence and tore open, leaving his tighty-whiteys showing, past the schoolyard full of kids, and the hose jockeys outside of their firehouse."

Jamie couldn't keep back a laugh.

"Two of them mooned him, by the way. Said if he could walk around with his butt hanging out, so would they."

"Damn smoke eaters," Jamie laughed. "I wonder why Joe never told me that story."

"It's not the kind of story you'd tell other people. It's the kind of story that gets told on you. Like you and that hot dog guy." Danny smirked as he recalled the story he heard from Renzulli about Jamie tackling the drug dealer in that hot dog costume.

"That guy. That story is going to follow me forever."

"You bet it is. I know I'm going to tell it every chance I get. Renzulli also. Even if you get to be commissioner, we'll still be there, telling that story about you. Got to do something to keep your ego in check," Danny teased.

Jamie stood up and walked over to an old mirror propped against the attic wall. He held the suit coat up to his body.

"Damn, I looked good in that suit. Sharp. Trustworthy. Just like you said, kiddo," Joe commented. "Too bad it won't fit you or Danny."

Danny looked over at his brother. "You know that wouldn't fit you. Joe was built like Dad, and you're not."

"Just checking out the color," Jamie argued. He and Joe had gone back and forth on that shopping trip. Joe had been looking for a traditional grey; he had insisted Joe try the more fashionable dark blue-grey instead, and that's what Joe had eventually bought. "Joe definitely took after Dad. Tall and broad-shouldered."

"But with Mom's coloring. Like you, except you got Mom's coloring and her build both. Shorter and scrawny."

"Excuse me. The word is slender. Not scrawny."

"Call it like I see it," Danny teased.

"You're built like Mom's family, too. You're not any taller than I am."

"No, but I got more muscles. And Dad's coloring."

"And then Erin got Mom's slenderness and Dad's height and coloring. We really were a mixed bag, weren't we?" Jamie reluctantly laid the suit on top of the donate pile. Maybe he'd see if any of the local law schools knew of a student who could use an almost new suit.

"You and Joe – people always knew you two were siblings."

"My little buddy," Joe interrupted.

"Same for Erin and me. But as a group..." Danny shrugged. "We completely scrambled Mom and Dad's genes."

"Yeah." Jamie returned to sorting through the suitcase. He pulled out the rest of the good items to donate, then pushed it away. "Ugh. The rest of this suitcase is old socks and underwear. I'm going to dump it in the toss pile." Jamie picked up one sock and stuck a finger through a hole at the end. "Why was Joe even keeping this?"

"It's called camouflage. No one's gonna look in that mess for valuable stuff," Joe explained to his brothers.

"A penny saved is a penny earned?"

"It's worth spending a few pennies for intact socks." Jamie upended the suitcase into the "toss" box. An envelope and a small box dropped to the floor and bounced across the floor.

"Like that. See, you almost missed those." Joe shook his head at his brothers' ineptitude. If he hadn't been there to flick those items away from the trash box…

"What's that?" Danny asked.

"Dunno." Jamie picked up the items and opened the envelope. "Cash. I'd guess two hundred in twenties." He looked closer at the small leather-covered box. Jamie knew right away what it was, but he pried the box open anyway. "Dammit. Damn it all." He snapped the box shut and threw it to the floor as a burst of anger hit.

"What's wrong, kid?" Danny retrieved the box and opened it up himself. Suddenly, he understood Jamie's reaction. A diamond ring – a decent-sized diamond in a simple, elegant silver setting – sparkled up at him. "Damn. Didn't know he was that close."

Jamie walked over to one of the dormer windows. "When Syd and I got engaged, Joe told me he was planning on asking Angie to marry him. He was just waiting to finish cleaning _something_ up," Jamie choked out.

"Guess we know what that _something_ was now," Danny replied.

"We'd joked about getting married together. Having a joint ceremony." Jamie swiped away the tears he thought he'd fought back.

Danny silently rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You know Joe will be present when you have your wedding ceremony…."

"That's right, Jame. I'm gonna be there, pushing this guy out of the way to be your best man, if I have to," Joe teased his brother.

"If that ever happens," Jamie muttered under his breath.

"It will. And when it does, Joe and I will be standing with you at the front of the church, all of us decked out in monkey suits, waiting for your bride to come walking down that aisle."

"Yeah, right."

Danny saw an opportunity to explore a bit of gossip Erin had told him months earlier. "You know, when you and Eddie get hitched," he continued, "Of course, you two will have to go on a date first."

"Oh my God," Jamie moaned. "Why do people keep saying that? Eddie and I are partners. Friends. Nothing more. Not dating. Not in a relationship."

"Not fooling anyone," Joe commented. "Seriously, kiddo, it's past time that you admit you have feelings for her. Even I can tell that, and I don't know her that well." Maybe that was something he should fix. If his baby brother was going to get serious about this girl, he needed to check her out. Make sure she was a better match for him than Sydney had turned out to be.

"Not dating? Yes, you are," Danny insisted. "Where do you go most every day after work? Out for a beer or dinner with Eddie, right?"

"Because we're leaving work together. There's usually other people there."

"Whatever. You two are not only dating, you're practically married already," Danny teased. "When you want to make it official, you should give Eddie this ring." Danny held the jewelry box out to his brother.

"Yeah, Jame. Listen to Danny. He actually has a good idea. Someone ought to use that ring."

Jamie took the box and finally looked at the ring. "Joe knew what he was doing. This ring would've fit Angela perfectly. Elegant and not too fussy."

"Sounds kind of like Eddie."

Jamie sent a glare his brothers' direction.

"Just sayin'."

Jamie looked at the ring again. It would fit Eddie's style. "Except we're not a couple." He snapped the box shut and walked over to the Sell pile. But instead of dropping the ring into that pile, he tucked it into his pants pocket.

Danny's sharp eye didn't miss that action. Interesting. Maybe there really was something between Jamie and his partner, like Erin and Linda thought. "Come on, kid. Let's get back to business. We're almost done, and I'm starting to feel hungry."

Jamie turned away from the piles. "When are you not? You're just like Eddie," he griped.

Danny grinned again. Yep, there was definitely something between Jamie and his partner. "Come on, bring that last box over here."

Jamie picked up the final box of Joe's things and froze. Somehow, sorting through this last box felt like they were kicking Joe out of the house and out of their lives. He was gone, and as soon as they finished with this box, his stuff would be too.

Danny looked up at his brother. "What's up, kid?"

"I don't want Joe to be gone," Jamie said, even as he knew that statement made no sense. Joe had been gone for seven years already.

Danny quickly stood up, walked over to his brother and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, kid. He'll still be here. We're keeping the stuff that has any meaning to us, and Nik's keeping a lot of the rest of his junk. And we'll always have the memories, right?"

Joe dropped a hand on his baby brother's other shoulder. "And you're not getting rid of me that easily, kiddo. I'd stick around even if you threw away all my stuff."

"I know. I didn't think it would hit me this hard," Jamie confessed.

"C'mon. Let's get through this last box of… what does that say?"

"Nightstand things," Jamie read off the side of the box.

Danny put the box down and yanked the tape off the top. "Flashlight, alarm clock. We can give these to Nik," Danny commented.

Jamie picked up the next items in the box. Two photo frames, one with a picture of Joe and Angie; the other with a picture of Joe and himself, standing on either side of their father, holding a fish between them.

Danny took the photo of Joe and Angie out of his hands. "Look at this. He almost looks human in this photo," Danny joked. "Ouch!"

"What?" Jamie looked up from the other photograph.

"Something bit me on the neck," Danny complained.

Joe crossed his arms across his chest. " _Almost_ _looks human_? Ugly dorks like you shouldn't talk," he huffed at his brother. "Take it back or I'll pinch you again."

Jamie shook his head. "Nothin' there, Dan."

"Hmph." Danny stepped over to look at the photo his brother was holding "When was that photo taken?"

"That fishing trip to Cape Cod. October 2008. You couldn't make it."

"The one Joe put together after Mom died and you almost lost it?"

Jamie nodded. No sense arguing with that statement. "That one, yeah."

Danny tilted the picture toward him to get a better look. "Is that the biggest fish you caught? It isn't even big enough to feed one of you."

Jamie smiled at the memory. "Yeah. The fish weren't biting that day."

Danny studied the picture again, looking from Jamie's smiling face, to their father's, to Joe's, and at the ten-inch long fish they held between them. "You know, after Dad got back from that trip? That was the first time I'd seen him smiling since we'd lost Mom. Joe too. That trip did both of them a lot of good. Did you a lot of good too, from what Joe told me."

"Yeah," Jamie agreed. He put that framed photo, as well as the one of Joe and Angie, in the keep box. Danny was right, for once. Even without the boxes of stuff, he'd always remember all the times Joe had been there for him, and all the good times they'd had together. Nothing would change that.

Danny dropped the remaining items into the trash can or the give-away box. "That's the last of that box. Now let's go get some dinner. Looking at that fish made me hungry. And I think I heard Linda arrive with the boys. Which means it's time to eat."

Jamie shook his head as he followed his brother down the stairs from the attic. "Just like Eddie."

* * *

 _Up tomorrow: Back to work for the Reagan brothers and their partners!_


	4. Opening Rounds

_AN: Thanks for the continued support!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Opening Rounds**

 _A few weeks later:_

 **Major Case Squad, 54th Precinct**

"Greetings, everyone," Detective Daniel Reagan called out as he made his way into the squad room.

Maria Baez looked up at him from her position sitting at her desk. "You're in a good mood today, aren't you?"

"And why shouldn't I be? We solved that bank heist case yesterday, didn't we?"

"Another inside job."

"That's right. You can't trust those bankers. Always trying to rip off their customers. Literally, in that case."

"Reagan, Baez," Lieutenant Carver called across the room. "In my office."

"Reagan, what did you do this time?" Baez stood up and began walking to their supervisor's office.

Danny shrugged. "Nothing. Why do you assume this is something I did?"

"Playing the odds," Baez retorted. "Good Morning, Lieutenant," she greeted as they entered Carver's office.

"Good Morning, Detectives," Carver returned. "Reagan, you remember sending out an e-mail last month asking to be notified if the name Walter Barton came up in anyone's cases?"

Danny thought for a moment. Barton. That attorney who they suspected was stealing client funds, and the suspicious death at his law firm they hadn't been able to tie him to. "Yeah?"

Carver held a thin file out to him. "Well, his name came up in this missing persons case. Mark Lorne, from Westchester. Drove down to meet with his attorney yesterday morning and hasn't been seen since."

"And that attorney's name was Walter Barton?" Danny surmised as he took the file.

"You got it. And since the detective assigned the case is overworked, and you were looking into Walter Barton, it's now your case. Enjoy."

Danny took a quick glance through the file. "Okay. Come on, partner. Let's go see my favorite attorney about a missing person."

==BB==BB==

 **St. Vincent's Hospital Emergency Room**

"You make sure that's in your report, copper. That dumb chickie broke my leg! Damn female drivers!"

"Damn drunks," Jamie muttered to himself as he walked out of one of St. Vincent Hospital's emergency examination rooms and met his partner at the nurses' station. "Well, partner, Mr. Stafford in there is still insisting he was just standing on the sidewalk, minding his own business, when the driver jumped the curb and ran him down. What's her story?"

Eddie flipped open her notebook. "Jasmine Amerson, 16, from Long Island. First time driving in the city, and she says it's her last also. Insists your Mr. Stafford stepped off the curb in front of her and she couldn't stop in time. Which fits with what _literally_ every other witness said."

"You going to write her a ticket?" Jamie asked.

"No," Eddie scoffed. "She didn't do anything wrong. Your drunk friend Stafford is the one who should be cited. That poor girl is just starting to explore the city, and he goes and ruins it for her. I can't believe you let him get away with traumatizing her like that," she huffed. "He's the one you should be giving a ticket to, for jaywalking if nothing else. In fact, I'm going to go give him a ticket if you won't."

Jamie snagged his partner's arm. "Whoa, there, partner. Relax. I already wrote him up for public intoxication and jaywalking."

"You did?"

Jamie nodded. "I did. And with that broken leg, he's not going to be walking in front of vehicles for a while, so it's safe for Jasmine to drive."

"Good. So we can go get lunch now?"

"Ed, we've only been on shift for two hours! It's not lunch time yet."

"Come on, Reagan," Eddie whined. "I'm hungry."

"Fine. But don't complain when it's end of shift and you're starving."

"Good. Because the cafeteria here has the _best_ fried chicken. You gotta try it."

Jamie grimaced. "Hospital food? You want us to eat hospital food?" And why did Eddie have to have the same taste in food as Joe had? Hadn't either of them met a green vegetable they liked? Or a red vegetable? Or a purple, orange or yellow one? Or any non-fried food?

"Jamie Reagan, are you dissing my hospital's cooking?" Linda Reagan asked as she approached the duo. She dropped a patient's chart into the holder on top of the desk. "I hear the cafeteria does have some good food. Just avoid…"

"The green Jell-o," Jamie said at the same time as Linda. "Hey, Linda."

"So, do you two need to leave for lunch right now, or do you have a minute?"

"We have time, Lin. What's up?"

"My patient in Room 5, Mary Ellen, is a six year old girl who shows signs of being abused. She's here today for a broken bone in her hand, but I see some signs of other injuries, and this isn't her first trip to the ER. Her mother says it's because she's autistic and clumsy. Says the girl loses control and hits things. But that's not what it looks like to me."

"You think the mother's the abuser?"

Linda looked back at the room. "No. The mother, Shannon, has some bruises also. She blames the visible one on her daughter, and she's trying to hide other ones. I think it's someone else in the household. The father, probably. I think she needs some advice on how to get out of that situation."

"You called Child Protective Services?" Jamie asked.

Linda shook her head. "Not yet. I know I can't let that girl go back to an abusive home, but if I call CPS and the mother won't leave the home, they might take her into protective custody. Putting an autistic child in the system wouldn't do her any good. I'd hope you could convince the mother to take her daughter and leave the home."

"Sure. I'll see what I can do." Jamie straightened an imaginary tie. "Time for Lawyer Jamie to go to work. C'mon, CopGirl, let's go save the day."

"CopGirl?" Eddie protested. "Hey, it's SuperCopGirl. And I want a cape."

"Okay, you two. Let me go introduce you to Shannon Barton." Linda led the two officers to the treatment room door. "Stay here for a second," she instructed them.

"CopGirl," Eddie huffed again. "And what's Lawyer Jamie's superpower? The ability to file motions at lightning speed?"

"Jamie, Eddie, come on in," Linda called before Jamie could respond.

Jamie walked into the room with Eddied following close behind. Linda stood near the door with a woman in her mid-thirties. A young girl sat on the bed, her lower left arm encased in a cast, intently working on the page of a coloring book.

"Officer Reagan, Officer Janko, this is Shannon Barton. She's Mary Ellen – Ellie's – mother," Linda introduced. "Shannon, Officer Reagan is my brother-in-law."

Jamie extended a hand. "Ms. Barton." He noticed a fading bruise on her arm; one that had clearly not been made by a six-year old child. The finger-shaped bruises were more the size of a large man's hand. "Linda tells me you might be having a problem at home?"

"Officer Reagan," Shannon greeted stiffly. "We're fine. It's Ellie's Asperger's. She loses control and hurts herself or me sometimes. We're working on it with her therapist."

Eddie also shook Shannon's hand. "Shannon, that bruise on your arm doesn't look like it was caused by Ellie. We can help you, if you'll let us."

Shannon crossed her arms across her chest, trying to hide the bruise. "It's not what you think."

"So what is it?"

"I told you. Ellie acts out when she gets overwhelmed. It's not her fault."

"We know it's not her fault. But we also don't think she's the one hurting you. And hurting her also."

"It's not what you think," Shannon repeated. "Walter is a good husband, and he provides for Ellie. Makes sure she gets whatever she needs with therapy and medical care. He even takes time away from his law firm to coach her for the Special Olympics."

"Mrs. Barton, it's not what we think that matters. It's what Ellie thinks. Do you want her thinking it's okay for her father to hurt you? For him to hurt _her_?"

"And what makes you so sure that's what is happening here?" Shannon argued.

"The size of that bruise you're trying to hide. Your daughter's injuries. The multiple trips to the hospital. It's a pattern we've seen too many times. And the fact that you haven't denied that your husband is the one who's hurting you and Ellie."

Shannon glanced over at her daughter.

"Think about Ellie," Jamie argued. "The nurse has a duty to report Ellie's injuries, if you don't take steps to protect her yourself. I don't think it would do much good for Ellie for Child Protective Services to get involved."

"Don't you think I want to stop this?" Shannon angrily swiped at a tear that was running down her cheek. "I've thought about leaving before. In fact, I have a friend who's offered to open her home to Ellie and me, but I'm afraid Walter will come home while I'm packing up, and I don't know what he'd do."

"Mrs. Barton, it's just…"

"And before you tell me it's 'just stuff,' it's not." Shannon interrupted Jamie. "Not to Ellie. It's her medication, and her favorite blanket and pillow, and her favorite dresses, and her favorite toys and books. Her routine is very important to her."

"In that case, why don't you have him arrested? You swear out a complaint against him and we can pick him up," Jamie argued.

"And he'll stay locked up for how long? A big-shot attorney like him? All the judge will see is a handsome, charming, upstanding citizen, and he'll be back home in no time. And I'm sure you cops know how well restraining orders work. Walter tells me all the time how his clients ignore those and get away with it."

Jamie nodded. That usually was the case, and why they often recommended that the abused spouse leave the home.

"Shannon, what if Officer Reagan and I take you home and help you pack up?" Eddie suggested. "Would that work? We'd be there to protect you if your husband, Walter, happens to show up."

"Office Janko, that's not something we'd normally do," Jamie told his partner quietly. But, a voice whispered in his head, if you went for that promotion to patrol sergeant, this is the kind of decision you'd be making, and you know you'd authorize an officer helping the Bartons in a second.

"Yeah, Reagan, but this isn't a _normal_ situation. Come on," Eddie whispered back at him.

Jamie nodded. "Mrs. Barton, would that work for you? If we escorted you back to your place and stayed while you packed up a few things?"

Shannon nodded. "It won't take me long. Maybe an hour."

"Okay. We'll give you a ride over to your place as soon as Ellie's ready to go."

==BB==BB==

Danny Reagan stormed down the courthouse steps to his car. "She lied to us," Danny Reagan seethed to his partner. He slammed his hand on the top of his car. "Walter Barton's assistant freaking lied to us. He was never in court today at all. We wasted an hour at his office and driving here, and another hour waiting for him, and he was never even there."

Baez hung up her cell phone. "And he's not back at his office. The receptionist confirmed he took the afternoon off."

"He's dodging us," Danny surmised. "Which tells me he's guilty of something."

"Yeah, and I don't have a good feeling about our missing Mr. Lorne's chances."

"Nope," Danny agreed. "So. Not at his office. Not in court. Where else would a big-shot attorney be at 11:00 in the morning?"

"His home?" Baez guessed.

"Good a place as any. Let's go."

* * *

 _TBC..._


	5. Convergence

_Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Convergence**

Jamie paced across the spacious living room of Walter and Shannon Barton's sixth-floor apartment in midtown Manhattan. The thought again crossed his mind that if he stuck with the law, he could've had a place like this of his own. One he'd likely be sharing with Sydney and maybe a kid or two. But, he reminded himself, he'd never see the inside of the place during daylight, and his children would be being raised by a nanny, because of the ridiculously long hours he and Syd would be working to make partner. And he would have been utterly miserable. Money and a nice apartment didn't buy happiness. Just look at the Barton family. Jamie shook his head and peered out the window. "Ed, the cab's here," he called back to his partner. He glanced at his watch. Right on time, too. 11:00AM.

"Okay, Jamie. We'll be right out."

Jamie paced back across the room. "Can I grab a bag or something?" he asked. Ellie had refused to allow him to enter her room to help with the packing. The poor child seemed to be afraid of him. Maybe of all men, thanks to her abusive jerk of a father. His role in this operation had been reduced to packing up a grocery bag with Ellie's medication from the kitchen, and standing guard in case Walter Barton showed up unexpectedly.

"You just wait out there for now," Eddie called back. "We're getting the bags together now."

"Ed, I'm going to check the hallway. Make sure it's clear before you guys come out," Jamie told his partner. The last thing Ellie or Shannon needed was to run into Walter as they were leaving. And it would make him feel useful.

"Okay, Reagan. We'll be right behind you," Eddie called back.

Jamie stepped out into the hallway and looked up and down the corridor. It was empty; not unusual in the middle of the work day. He heard the elevator ding and the doors open. Sounded like someone was coming home. Maybe for lunch; it was definitely time for lunch now. Shortly after, a dark-haired man with a neatly trimmed goatee stepped around the corner, the cell phone in his hand apparently commanding all his attention. "Good afternoon," Jamie greeted the man as neared.

"'lo, Officer," he muttered without breaking stride, heading toward the next door down the hall.

Something about the guy's profile looked familiar. Like the man in some of the family pictures in the apartment behind him. Except that man in those pictures was blond, with no facial hair. "Sir, hold up," Jamie began while turning to face the man.

The man stopped walking. "What?"

"Walter Barton? Is that your name? Can you turn around so we can talk?"

Barton turned around faster than Jamie had expected and lunged toward the officer.

 _What the hell? What's wrong with this guy?_ Jamie barely had time to complete that thought and pull his baton free before he was forcefully tackled into the wall. As the air vacated his lungs and the baton fell from his limp fingers, he vaguely recalled how Sharon had describe her husband. _Used to be a defensive linebacker for his college football team. Famous for sacking the quarterback, or any other player smaller than he was_. Jamie took a weak swing in the man, but Barton ducked out of the way and swung back with a left hook that connected solidly with the side of Jamie's face and left him reeling. Before he recovered, Barton grabbed him by his shirt collar and slammed his body into the door once, and then a second time. Jamie felt the door give way behind him, and then he was falling to the ground and the back of his head was knocking into the wood floor. The last thing heard before slipping into the darkness was his partner yelling his name…

==BB==BB==

Eddie had just stepped into the hallway, loaded down with a suitcase and a few tote bags when she heard it. A huge thud in the hallway and a strangled yelp that sounded like her partner. She dropped the bags she was carrying and reached for her gun, pulling it out at the same time one thud and then another echoed through the door into the apartment. Then the door flew open, and she saw her partner shoved through the doorway and fall to the floor. She couldn't tell if he was conscious or not. "Get back! Go back," she yelled to Shannon. "Reagan!"

"Walter!" Shannon cried as she recognized her husband standing in the doorway. She grabbed her daughter and followed Eddie's order.

Almost as soon as Jamie had hit the floor, Walter was on top of him, tugging his service weapon free of its holster and raising it toward Eddie.

"Put it down, Walter!" Eddie demanded right before a bullet from Jamie's gun hit her right side. The grazing impact sent her to the ground, and she quickly rolled over and crawled back into Ellie's bedroom, with some help from Shannon.

While Shannon slammed the door behind them, Eddie reached for her shoulder radio. "12-David, 10-13. Shots fired. Officers down," she barked into the radio, followed by the address of the apartment. "Shannon, is there a way out of this room? A fire escape?"

The woman shook her head. "No. It's Ellie's room. It would be too dangerous to have an exit. She likes to wander."

Eddie heard the man in the hallway. "Need to block the door." She carefully got to her feet, using her right side as little as possible. _Gotta check on that. See how bad it is…_ She pointed to a dresser near the door. "Help me move that."

It was right after the two women got the dresser in front of the door that Shannon noticed the blood smudged on it from Eddie's wound. "Officer Janko, you're bleeding. Can I check it out?" Shannon asked. At Eddie's questioning look, she added, "I was a medical student once. A long time ago." Shannon glanced over at her daughter, who was curled up on a bean-bag chair in a corner, rocking herself and whimpering. "Finished the first two years. Before Walter, and before Ellie."

"Is she okay?"

Shannon nodded. "That's her retreat corner. It's where she goes when her environment gets overwhelming. She'll calm down in a while. So, can I take a look at your side?"

"Okay," Eddie agreed. "But only if you call me Eddie."

"Okay, Eddie. Let me see that boo-boo," Shannon ordered. Once Eddie had complied, she quickly examined the wound. "Wish I had some bandages and some antiseptic," she said a minute later. "You'll probably need a few stitches to close that up, but it doesn't look too bad. More like a deep cut than anything. Wouldn't take more than a few minutes to fix it up."

"Once we're out of here," Eddie added. She hoped help was on its way.

==BB==BB==

Caught up in thoughts of knocking Walter Barton's head into a wall - how dare that loser try to dodge him! - Danny almost didn't hear the emergency tone on the radio. The last half second of the tone finally broke into his thoughts.

"12-David reports 10-13, shots fired, officers down," the dispatcher reported.

Danny stared at the radio. _12-David_. That was Jamie!

"Reagan, did you here that?" Baez reached for the radio and cranked up the volume. "That's Walter Barton's address."

"And it's my brother or his partner that made that call!" Danny snapped at Baez. What the hell was Jamie doing at his suspect's address? More to the point, what had his suspect done to Jamie? "Baez, get an update on the officer's identities and conditions," he ordered. Maybe it wasn't Jamie or his partner; maybe one of them was calling in a situation for someone else. But he doubted it. He stepped on the accelerator, intent on closing the distance between him and his brother. "Kid, what are you doing?" he muttered.

==BB==BB==

Eddie's radio sprang to life. "12-David, 12-Sergeant requests you meet him on the tac frequency," the dispatcher.

Eddie quickly adjusted her radio. "12-Sergeant, 12-David."

"Janko, you okay?" Renzulli's voice carried over the radio.

"Yeah, Sarge. This guy – Walter Barton – got the jump on Reagan. He was out last time I saw. Knocked his head on the floor," Eddie reported.

"And you?"

"He took a shot at me with Reagan's gun. Grazed my side. My doctor type person tells me it's not serious."

"Shannon! Open the door!" Walter pounded on the door and tried to force it open.

"Janko, what's that?" Renzulli asked.

"Sarge, that's the husband. Trying to get in. I gotta go."

"Okay, Janko, but lock your mic open. Help's on the way."

"Shannon!" Walter rattled the door again. "Baby, open the door. We can talk this out," Walter begged.

Eddie shook her head. They were _not_ opening this door.

"Walter, I can't do that. You shot one police officer and hurt another. We can't talk that out. There's more cops on the way. You need to surrender to them when they get here," Shannon tried to reason with her husband.

"What? Shan, we don't need the cops. We just need to work things out together."

"Walt, no. That's not what we need. You can't keep hurting Ellie and you can't keep hurting me. It's not right."

"Babe, you know how it is. Mary Ellen stresses me out, and you make me crazy. I'm not the bad guy here. I have a plan to do better if you give me another chance. Come on, babe. I can make this right."

Eddie shook her head no, in case Shannon was being persuaded by that speech.

"Walter, you have to make this right by giving up to the police," Shannon insisted. "Then we can talk some more."

Walter pounded a fist into the door. "Hell effing no. The cops need to give up and leave. You here that, Officer? I want you out. It's my residence and I'm asking you to leave."

"No can do, Mr. Barton. It's your wife's residence too, and she wants me here," Eddie argued back.

"Listen, Officer Bitch, you leave now, or I use that damn cop's gun to shoot you, and then I shoot him," Walter threatened.

"Walt, don't do that. That's not you," Shannon begged.

"You think I won't do it? Well, watch this." Walter fired Jamie's gun, sending a bullet tearing through the door and into the opposite wall of the bedroom.

Shannon gasped. "Oh god, oh god, he's lost it," she moaned.

The sound also terrified Ellie, who had finally calmed down. She jumped to her feet and ran screaming for the door, and when she found that blocked, for the window. Eddie grabbed the girl before she could try to open the window, but she squirmed and fought her way out of Eddie's grasp and ran back to the door, then back toward the window. Eddie and Shannon tried to catch her again before she could hurt herself, but she twisted free of them both and ran into the wall hard enough for her shoulder to leave a hole in the wallboard. She slid down to the floor and curled up into a crying ball of misery.

==BB==BB==

In the living room, Jamie awoke to find himself lying on his back, his head throbbing and his gun gone. _Walter Barton. That man was Walter Barton, and now I'm back in his apartment and he has my gun_ , Jamie deduced. He tried to push aside the pain in his head and take stock of his situation. Had there been a gunshot earlier? The air smelled vaguely of gunpowder residue. Who had been shot? Not him; nothing hurt that bad other than his head. Eddie? Was she okay?

Jamie heard Walter's voice in the hallway, arguing with his wife, his voice getting louder with each exchange. He rolled to his front and pushed himself up onto his knees, fighting back the dizziness that threatened to send him back to the ground. And then Eddie's voice carried out of the room. So she was okay; alive at least and able to try to reason with Walter. Jamie forced himself to his feet as Walter became even more agitated. He needed to get his gun back from that guy.

Almost as soon as Jamie had that thought, Walter was screaming something at Eddie about shooting her, and then he was raising the gun toward the door. "No!" Jamie yelled. He rushed at the man, but Walter had already fired a shot through the door, then quickly turned and fired at him.

The bullet struck Jamie in the right leg and sent him back down to the floor. He fought to hold on to consciousness as the pain suddenly radiating from his leg joined the throbbing pain in his head. Suddenly, he became aware of a looming presence standing over him. "Mr. Barton, you need to stop this before it gets any worse," he gasped out.

"Stupid cops couldn't just leave it alone, could you? Shannon and I could have fixed it," Walter sneered down at him. "I had a plan, and you're screwing it up. I can keep my family in line by myself."

"Didn't look that way to me," Jamie retorted.

Walter didn't care for that remark. "Stupid cop," he grumbled again.

Jamie saw Walter drawing his foot back for a kick, and quickly tried to roll out of the way. But not quickly enough. Walter's foot slammed into his side, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Once again, Jamie felt himself spiraling into unconsciousness. He only hoped backup would get there soon.

* * *

 _Tomorrow: Danny arrives..._


	6. Worlds Collide

**Chapter 6 – Worlds Collide**

"Danny, hurry up. Jamie needs you," Joe nearly yelled at his brother from the backseat of Danny's car. "Drive faster. Drive like you're fourteen."

Danny pushed down harder on the gas pedal. "Get out of the way, you morons!" he yelled to the other drivers on the road, most of whom were already moving out of the way. "Move it!" _Shots fired. Officers down. Officers._ Danny couldn't stop the dispatcher's words from replaying in his head. _Officer_ _ **s**_ _down._ The update they'd received from Sergeant Renzulli minutes later had done nothing to calm his nerves. Eddie grazed by a bullet, and his brother unconscious and unarmed. "Kid, hang on," he whispered.

"Danny, stay calm. Officer Janko told Renzulli that she's okay…" Baez tried to reason with her frantic partner.

"Don't listen to her, Danny. Get there now!" Joe encouraged. "Things changed. Come on. You can drive faster than this!"

"She also said my kid brother was unconscious on the floor, okay?" Danny retorted. "So, I'm not going to stay calm. Outta the way!" Danny veered into the oncoming traffic and managed to pass two slower moving vehicles before jerking back into his own lane. That image was stuck in his head. Jamie, lying defenseless on the floor with a man who had in all likelihood already murdered two people and shot a cop standing over him with his own gun. And no one there to help him. "Joe, if you can hear me, go stay with Jamie. Please, kid. Keep him safe for me," he begged.

"That's what I was doing, but you _weren't driving fast enough!_ "

Danny stepped even harder on the gas. Just another minute, and he'd be there himself.

==BB==BB==

Eddie reached for her radio. "12-David, Reagan, you okay?" she asked, hoping he had regained consciousness. She thought she had heard him call out just before Walter fired the shot through the door, and she thought she'd heard a second shot in the confusion afterward. "Jamie, you there?"

No response; not even static. She looked down at the mic clipped to her shoulder and finally noticed the torn wires. The darn thing must have been broken during their effort to control Ellie. "Damn it," she cursed.

"Hey, Shannon, you ready to leave yet?" Walter Barton's taunting voice carried through the door.

Shannon shook her head. "No," she whispered.

"Or maybe girly cop would like to leave instead. How about that? You want to come out here and take your damn friend to the hospital before he bleeds out all over my carpet?" Walter called again. "Leave my wife and I to work this out on our own? Because those are your two options. Let us leave, or get out. I'll give you a few minutes to decide."

Walter's words left Eddie reeling. So there had been a second shot, and it had hit her partner. Eddie was still trying to process that information when her phone chimed. She grabbed it out of her pocket and stared at the screen. A new text message had arrived. She swiped the messaging app open and glanced at the message. It was from Danny Reagan, and it was two words long. "Sit rep."

 _"_ _Sit rep."_ Situation report. Eddie stared at the text from Danny Reagan on her phone. How the hell did she respond to that? _Hey, Reagan, yeah, your baby brother just got shot, and I don't know how bad_. Yeah, that would go over well. But Danny needed info.

"Armed man LR w Ofc R-hurt. Im in BR w mom & kid. Radio 10-62," she texted back.

A minute later her phone buzzed. She checked the screen. "Hang on. We're here," the message from Danny read. Another message arrived a second later. "Can you talk?"

Eddie quickly pushed the buttons on her phone screen to call the number Danny was texting from. He answered on the first ring. "Detective Reagan. Thank God you're here."

==BB==BB==

As Danny Reagan screeched his car to a halt in front of the Barton's apartment building, he grabbed his ringing phone out of his partner's hand. "Janko. How do we get to you?" he demanded as he glanced around the scene. Damn. SWAT and Sergeant Renzulli had already arrived. No matter; neither of them were going to stop him from being the first one into that damn apartment.

"Reagan, I'm going to see what's going on with Sergeant Renzulli and the SWAT commander," Baez gestured to the two officers, who looked to be having a heated discussion, and stepped out of the car.

Danny flipped his partner a thumbs-up as he listened to Eddie describe the apartment layout and the lack of a good exit.

"There's a fire escape at the master bedroom window," Eddie was saying. "You could go through the wall from that room into this one. It's wallboard. Ellie already put a hole through it."

"Good plan, Officer," Danny told her. "I'm on my way."

"Well, hurry," Eddie insisted. "This guy gave us 'a few minutes' to leave three minutes ago, and he's not very patient."

"Got it." Danny disconnected the phone call and jogged over to where Renzulli and some SWAT guy were glaring at each other while Baez tried to mediate their discussion.

"Danny, SWAT has a team moving to the front door and a sniper with a flash-bang across the street," Baez told him. "They're ready to go in even though they haven't made contact with Barton or the hostages yet."

The SWAT commander sent a glare at Baez. "Barton isn't answering his phone, and the officers - Janko and your brother - aren't answering their radios. For all we know, they're already dead."

"Or my brother is injured and Janko's radio is broken. You think of that?" Danny argued.

"You just guessing. We'll be able to see what's happened when my team gets in position."

"Not guessing," Danny snipped back. He held up his phone, barely resisting the urge to smack the guy in the head with it. "I talked to Officer Janko, and we have a plan." Danny started off for the building's entrance at a quick pace. "I'll tell you about it on the way upstairs," he called to the man without a backwards glance to see if anyone was following.

==BB==BB==

Meanwhile, in the living room of the Barton apartment, Jamie was slowly working his way back to consciousness. He wondered if it was really worth it, since every part of his body hurt or ached. Except for the back of his neck, which someone was cradling in their hand.

"C'mon, kiddo. Time to wake up," a familiar voice encouraged.

"Go 'way, Joey. 'm tired, an' my head hurts and my leg hurts and my side hurts," Jamie mumbled.

"Nope. I'm staying right here until you wake up. Danny's gonna want to talk to you soon, and you don't want to freak him out by being unconscious, do you? C'mon, open your eyes."

Jamie sighed and forced his eyes open. "Joey?" Yep, it looked like Joe, kneeling beside him in his full NYPD uniform.

"Think you can sit up, Jame?"

Jamie wrapped his right arm around his sore ribs. "Don't wanna," he mumbled even as he rolled onto his side. That's when he realized his left arm was restrained; handcuffed to the ornately carved leg of the couch he was lying beside, probably with his own handcuffs. He pushed himself up until he was sitting against the couch. He fought to stay conscious for Joe even as the room spun around him.

"Uniform looks good on you, kiddo. Just like I said it would," Joe told him. "You're looking kinda rough, though."

"Huh." Jamie leaned his head back against the seat cushion and squeezed his eyes shut. There was too much going on. Joey being here, that man standing in front of a shelf of photos and trinkets and glancing from the photos to the hallway where his partner and the victims had taken shelter. His partner… "Eddie…" The handcuffs momentarily forgotten, he tried to roll to his hands and knees, and almost passed out as pain ripped through his leg, side and arm. "Gotta help…."

"Hey, there. Stay put," Joe insisted. "Your partner's fine."

"Stop moving around!" the man yelled. He turned around and advanced toward Jamie. "Stop it!"

"I already told him that, spitwad!" Joe yelled back.

Jamie groaned and pressed his free hand to his head. "Joey. Not so loud. My head hurts."

"Sorry, kiddo. Here, you can rest your head on my shoulder. It's okay. Danny's gonna get you out."

Walter smirked as his prisoner curled up against the couch. He looked from Jamie to the bedroom door. "Hey cop, time's up. You get out here or I shoot you partner again," he called to Eddie.

==BB==BB==

Danny squeezed through the narrow opening he and one very irate SWAT commander had cut into the wall between the Barton's bedroom and Ellie's room, coating his ballistic vest in chalky gypsum dust in the process. They'd gotten lucky; the apartment had been renovated somewhat recently and the wallboard had been the modern paper and gypsum, not the older kind with chicken wire inside it, and also not the original lathe and plaster. Easy and, more importantly, quiet to cut through. He glanced around the room. A little girl was curled up in a bean bag chair, moaning quietly, while a woman crouched down beside her. And there was Eddie, leaning an ear against the door to the hallway. "Janko!" he quietly called to his brother's partner.

"Danny!" Eddie Janko replied before she ran across the room.

"Any news?"

"I think I heard Jamie talking, but I didn't hear anyone responding."

A tiny bit of relief trickled through Danny's mind. If Jamie was talking, even to himself, that meant he was alive. "Okay. Listen. SWAT has a team outside the front door, ready to break it down once we get the girl and her mother out of here. And they have a guy on the fire escape to fire a flash-bang through the window right before they enter. But we need to know Jamie's position first."

"I'll go," Eddied agreed before Danny even asked. "You have a wire?"

It was at that moment that Walter made his threat. "Hey cop, time's up. You get out here or I shoot you partner again!"

"No time. Give me your phone," Danny demanded. As soon as Eddie complied, Danny dialed his own number and connected the call. "Okay. Put this someplace safe. I'll listen in."

Eddied tucked the phone under the shoulder strap of her ballistics vest with the microphone angled outward.

"All you need to do is buy us a few minutes, okay?" Danny tried to reassure her as they walked toward the door. "Just enough time to get those two out. Then we're coming in, got it?"

Eddie nodded. "Okay. I'm ready." She opened the door slowly. "Hey, mister. Here I am."

"Gun first. Drop it in the hallway," Walter demanded.

Eddie reached for her weapon, quickly emptied it of bullets, and lowered it to the ground as she stepped into the hallway. "Okay."

"Now get over here."

Eddie slowly walked toward Walter. As she neared him, he reached out, grabbed her arm and yanked her forward. "Hey, let go!" she protested.

Instead, he shoved her across the room, toward the couch where Jamie had propped himself up, his head resting loosely on the seat cushion. "Get him out of here already, girly cop," he demanded.

Eddie stumbled forward, then dropped down to the floor next to her partner. "Jamie?"

==BB==BB==

Jamie forced his eyes open as loud voices pulled him back to awareness. That man, and Eddie? Then Eddie sitting next to him, right where Joe had been sitting last he remembered. And then Joe was sitting next to Eddie.

"No respect for the dead," Joe huffed.

Jamie blinked again. "Joey?"

"No, goofball. It's me. Eddie. You okay?"

"Eddie?" Jamie tried to focus on her face.

"Yeah. You know, your partner?"

"And a fetching one at that," Joe commented. "None of my partners were ever that good looking. Of course, none of my partners were girls. No wonder you've got a thing for her."

"Stop sayin' that," Jamie mumbled. "What is it with you and the romance novel words?"

"Stop saying what? Romance novels?" Eddie asked. When Jamie only looked at her in confusion, Eddie grabbed his shoulder. "Never mind. Where are you hurt?"

"Leg. 's bleeding," Jamie mumbled.

"He shot you in the leg? Anything else?" Eddie asked, hoping Danny was picking up on the conversation.

"Kicked ribs. Hit m' head."

"And handcuffed you to the couch over here against the front wall. Yeah, big man, this one," Eddie snipped.

Jamie blinked in confusion at his partner's oddly specific response. Why did it matter where the couch was?

"Shut up, stupid cops. Shut up!" Walter yelled. "You're supposed to be leaving already!"

"I'm working on it," Eddie shouted back. "He's hurt!"

"You shut up!" Joe yelled, at the same time the telephone started ringing.

"Uh, too noisy," Jamie moaned. The man answered the phone, and the ringing thankfully stopped. He tuned out the drone of the man's voice and the closer, quieter drone of Eddie's voice.

"Hey, Reagan, pay attention to me," Eddie suddenly snapped. She was leaning closer to him, resting her right hand on his left.

"Aw, how sweet. Holding hands," Joe stated.

"Wha'?" Jamie responded to both his brother and his partner. He suddenly realized Eddie wasn't only holding his hand, she was carefully unlocking the handcuffs.

"Listen, the SWAT team is going to make entry soon, if your brother can't talk this guy down. So be ready for the flash-bang."

Jamie frowned. "He can't hear Joey."

"Your brother _Danny_ ," Eddie clarified. " _Danny_ , who is on the phone with him right now. Man, you are _way_ concussed."

Jamie looked up at Walter. He was pacing the floor while talking on the phone. With Danny. Talking to Danny. Suddenly, the man threw the phone violently to the ground.

"Uh-oh. Get ready," Joe commented.

Then everything got horrendously confusing. Breaking glass, someone pushing him to the floor and covering his head with their body, a horribly loud sound and an even more horribly bright light. Then everything faded to quiet darkness…

* * *

 _Two cliffhangers in a row! Insert evil laugh here.. ;D_


	7. Recovery

**Chapter 7 – Recovery**

Wonderfully quiet darkness. Except for some infernal beeping noise. Every beep was like a little dagger poking into his skull. He moaned and reached for his aching head.

"Jamie?"

Jamie forced his eyes open, then quickly closed them. Too many bright lights. "Ouch."

"Hey, kid. Eyes open."

A shadow blocked out most of the light, and Jamie carefully opened his eyes again. He recognized his brother, hovering over him. "Danny. Where? What?"

Danny was pushing him back down to the bed before he'd even realized he was trying to sit up. "None of that. You're at St. Vic's, waiting to be taken up to surgery. You would've been there already, but there was a major TA on the Crosstown, and all the operating rooms and surgeons got booked up with more serious cases. You're stable, which would be a good thing, but it's not because that means you have to wait for a surgeon to get here."

"Surg'ry?"

"To get that bullet out of your leg. Remember getting shot?"

"Oh." Jamie tried to recall the events that had led to him being flat on his back in a hospital bed. There had been that angry man, and Joey, and Eddie…

"Yeah. You got lucky. They say it mostly missed the bone and the major arteries. Muscle damage only," Danny told him. "They said you're stable right now, so long as you don't move the leg. Which is why they have it all braced up. And they wanted to strap you down also, but I convinced Linda I could keep you in bed." Which had provided him with a convenient excuse to stay at his brother's side for the forty-five minutes they'd been waiting. Danny shook his head. Had it only been an hour and a half since he had followed the SWAT team into the Barton's living room to find Eddie Janko covering his brother's limp body with hers while the SWAT officers dealt with Walter Barton?

Jamie blinked, trying to process what Danny was saying. "'s Eddie okay?"

"She's fine. She's next door, getting a few stitches in her head. Cut by flying glass," Danny explained. He decided not to mention Eddie's other minor injury. "And no, not on her face. Your girlfriend is as pretty as ever."

"Good." Jamie vaguely thought there was something wrong with Danny's statement, but he couldn't think of what right now.

Danny couldn't hide the smirk. His brother had just admitted he had romantic feelings for his partner. It took a concussion for him to do it, but it was enough of a confession to take to court. His smile faded as he saw a worried frown suddenly appear on Jamie's face. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Danny, c'n you go check on Eddie?"

Danny sighed. "I'm sure she's fine. I need to stay here and watch you."

"Please, Dan? Joey says you should check on her."

Danny shook his head. This concussion had thrown his brother for quite a loop. Kept thinking he was seeing Joe. And maybe he was. Danny couldn't get an image from the takedown out of his head. Eddie covering Jamie's body with hers, and a fleeting glimpse of another uniformed officer covering them both…. That couldn't have been Joe. But then, it couldn't be anyone else, since Jamie and Eddie had been the only uniforms in the Barton's living room. "Alright, kid. I'll go. You just stay still… and stay awake… until I get back."

==BB==BB==

Next door, Eddie leaned back against the inclined head of the darn uncomfortable hospital bed, then promptly sat back up again. Thanks to that damn gash across the back of her head and the graze on her side, she couldn't lie back and relax. Both injuries hurt when she did. And she really wanted to lie down. She was feeling weird everywhere – weak and puffy and buzzy. And on top of that, her stomach was definitely not happy. Probably just hungry. She and Jamie had missed lunch, thanks to that loser Walter Barton and his ridiculous plan to start over somewhere else with the money he'd embezzled from his law firm, and without his daughter. The ridiculous plan that had left her partner shot, and her with minor injuries to her head and side. Minor injuries that nobody had time to treat, thanks to casualties from some damn TA that were taking all the doctors away from minor cases like hers. They'd given her some painkillers and some antibiotics, and said someone would be there to stitch her up as soon as possible.

She sighed again. All she wanted to do was get the hell out of this bed and go check on her partner. If she couldn't do that, it would be nice if someone would come update her on how he was doing. Soon after the doctor had finished assessing her injuries and tethered her to the damn bed with the IV medications, Commissioner Reagan had stopped by briefly. He'd told her Jamie was stable; in and out of consciousness due to the head injury but being carefully monitored while they waited for a surgeon to arrive. Then Erin had stopped by a few minutes later to make sure she was okay. But after they'd left, no one had come to give her any news. All she could do was sit here and worry. Alone.

Well, she didn't have to be alone. She could have called her mother, who would have cancelled her vacation and caught the first plane to New York to be by her side. But it was just minor injuries; not worth worrying her mother over. She could have called her best friend Hailey, but Hailey was super-busy finishing up some project at work. She didn't want to interrupt that. Kara Walsh would've stayed with her, if only there wasn't a shortage of officers on the street right now due to Jamie and her being hospitalized. And of course, there was no boyfriend in the picture right now. None of the guys she'd dated casually could compare with the one guy she really wanted to date. The guy who was lying injured somewhere in this hospital; the guy who would be the perfect boyfriend if only he'd get his act together…

Jamie's sister Erin would know something, and when Erin visited earlier, she had said to call if she needed anything. And of course, Jamie's sister-in-law Linda was a nurse in the ER. She'd definitely know something. But then those women would think she was a big baby who couldn't handle a minor injury, and word would get back to Jamie about her wussiness. Nope. She wasn't going to do that. She'd just sit here and feel sorry for herself. That was a plan. Sit here all alone, and feel sorry for herself. Tears suddenly slipped out of her eyes, and she angrily swiped at them. Dumb medications; making her nauseous and teary.

But suddenly, she wasn't feeling quite as alone. "Hello?"

"If Danny saw that gash on one of us, he'd tease us about our brains leaking out," Joe commented. He leaned against the bed at her feet. "But you're not family, not yet, so I guess I can't say that."

Eddie reached up to touch the bandage on the back of her head. "Feels like my brain is leaking out," she mumbled to herself.

Joe walked around to get a better view. "Looks like they've got it bandaged up good, though. That will keep your brains in place."

Eddie pushed the bandage out of the way to scratch at an itch on her forehead. Maybe it was good Jamie wasn't here. Because of the location of the gash on the back of her head, the medics couldn't use their standard gauze and tape to cover it, and had instead wrapped a pressure bandage all the way around her head. She looked like a freakin' mummy. And she itched. She scratched at her forehead again, then at a spot on her ribcage, and then reached down to scratch at her ankle. She nearly fell off the bed when a wave of dizziness hit. "Whoa."

"Hey, Eddie, you should be lying down. I bet you could lie on your left side without hurting those injuries." Joe ran around the bed, as if he could do anything to stop her from falling.

Maybe she'd lie down. Lying on her side might work. She carefully laid down on her left side. If she didn't move, that position didn't pull too hard on her bandaged scalp or side. But it didn't make her feel a whole lot better. Still dizzy. Still nauseous. And now it felt like her nose was getting stuffed up. She sniffed, then swiped angrily at her eyes as more tears leaked.

"Maybe you should call the nurse," Joe suggested.

"Maybe you could do it, Officer," Eddie snapped. "Who are you, and what're you doing here, anyway?"

"Joe Reagan, and I'm keeping you company while everyone else is busy," Joe explained. "Jamie wouldn't want you being alone."

"He doesn't care that much. Not like he's my boyfriend," Eddie mumbled.

"Hey now. Yes he does. My baby brother is just too much of a boy scout to break the rules and date you."

"Needs to get his act together and take the detective's exam or the sergeant's exam then. I could be dating him if he'd do that."

"He'd make a good patrol sergeant, wouldn't he?" Joe asked.

"M'hmm," Eddie mumbled, afraid to open her mouth as the nausea had suddenly kicked up a notch or two.

"Hey, Eddie, you really should call the nurse. You don't sound so good. The button is right by your left hand," Joe encouraged.

"Don't need the nurse," Eddie griped, but she made a weak attempt at pushing the button anyway.

"Hey, listen Eddie, I'll be right back. Hang in there." Joe walked into Jamie's room.

A minute later, Danny Reagan knocked on the door, then entered anyway when she didn't answer. "Officer Janko? Jamie asked me to check on you. You okay?"

Eddie fought down a wave of nausea. "'m fine."

Danny looked at her. "You sure? Because you look kinda green."

"Dizzy. Sick t' stomach," she admitted.

"Listen. I'm going to get my wife in here, okay? Because I'm not up on all this medical stuff, but that sounds like a problem." Danny stepped over to her bed and pushed the call button. Then he headed for the door and flagged down his wife. "Lin! Over here!"

"Babe, why aren't you with your brother?" Linda asked as she approached.

"Because he asked me to check on Eddie. And it's a good thing, too, because she doesn't look so good," Danny explained. He moved out of the way to let his wife enter the room.

Linda immediately began checking Eddie over. "Eddie, what's wrong?"

"Dizzy. Nauseated. Puffy," Eddie managed to get out.

Linda pushed the call button. "Amy, get Dr. Lansing in here," she ordered when the desk nurse answered. "And Danny, you get back to your brother. The surgeon got here a few minutes ago, and they're about ready to move him upstairs," Linda ordered her husband as she adjusted Eddie's IV line. "Eddie, it looks like you're having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. I've stopped it from going into the IV, but we'll have to control the reaction." She fitted an oxygen mask over Eddie's face. "Try to relax. You're gonna be okay."

Eddie pushed the mask aside. "Danny, is Jamie okay? I haven't heard anything for a while."

Danny looked back at his brother's partner. "Yeah. He's still doing okay. Woke up again a few minutes ago and seemed more with it this time. Going up to surgery soon, like Linda said."

"Oh, good. Thanks," Eddie replied right before Linda pushed the oxygen mask back onto her face.

"And, Janko? Thanks for taking care of my kid brother," Danny told her as he turned to leave the room. Jamie had made a good choice for a girlfriend this time.

* * *

 _Thanks again for the reviews! Continued tomorrow..._


	8. Operations

_Late update tonight, thanks to 'real life' ... I appreciate the views and reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Operations**

Frank Reagan sat stiffly in one of the ER waiting room's many chairs and glanced around the room. It was crowded today, as he supposed was usual for this place. Or maybe it was just because of the tour bus crash on the Crosstown, and the multiple walking wounded who had been brought to this hospital and the uninjured awaiting word on loved ones. Just like he was. At least Jamie wouldn't be the top story on the news. He hoped "Tour Bus vs. FDNY Engine" would win out over "Commissioner's Son Shot" as the headline of the day. He couldn't stop his mind from taking him back to that moment only a few hours ago when Baker has burst into his office…

==BB==BB==

"It's a nightmare," Gromley was arguing. "The road's blocked in both directions. Traffic is backing up all over Manhattan. Cops can't get where they need to be. And they're the ones that are going to get blamed for the whole mess."

"It's a reporter's dream," Garrett argued back. "The feel-good story of the day, with the potential to go national. Tour bus clips the back of a fire truck and rolls over the center divider, and the FDNY is already on scene to help."

"If the tour bus driver hadn't been chasing after the fire truck, he wouldn't have hit it. Let's put the blame where it belongs. On the reckless bus driver and the looky-loo tourists who wanted a picture of the FDNY and NYPD in action."

"Frank, please don't say that at the press conference. It's bad business to blame the tourists."

"Well, it's their fault," Frank had begun to argue just as Baker walked through the door. "Isn't that right, Baker?"

"Sir."

The serious tone in Baker's voice caught his attention. "What's happened?"

"There's a hostage situation with reported officers down in Midtown. Reports are that Officers Reagan and Janko were injured; no word on Officer Reagan's condition, but Officer Janko's injuries are reported to be minor. Detective Reagan is also on the scene. I don't have details of why yet."

==BB==BB==

And as those details slowly trickled in, Frank had forced himself to stay at his desk. The scene wasn't the place for the commissioner, he kept telling himself, no matter how much he needed to be there. That resolve lasted right up until the moment that Gromley announced that the situation was under control and Jamie was headed for St. Victor's. Then he'd stood up and strode for the door, trusting Baker and his detail to know where he was headed.

He'd arrived at the hospital to find Danny waiting for him at the emergency desk.

"Dad, he's okay," Danny said without any other greeting. "Got some bruises and a concussion from being knocked around, and a gunshot to the leg. But he's been conscious and talking."

Frank nodded. Somehow, the words "okay" and "gunshot" just didn't belong in the same sentence, especially not when they were describing his baby boy. "And Officer Janko?" he forced himself to ask. He was the Commissioner for both wounded officers, after all.

"Cut to the back of her head, and a graze from a bullet on her side. She'll be released once they find someone to stitch her up." Danny shook his head. "That damn tour bus crash. I'm sure you heard about it. All the doctors are busy with serious injuries from the crash."

"I heard. I'm hoping it will keep your brother off the front page."

"Yeah. One other thing, Dad. I think it's a side effect of the concussion, but Jamie keeps talking to Joe, like Joe can hear him or something."

"And you think Joe can't?"

Danny threw up his hands. "I don't know. It's weird. He was doing it the whole way here in the ambulance and Janko said he was doing it before also. Thought you should be aware."

"Danny, Frank," Linda called quietly from the door of a treatment room. She gestured for them to join her.

"Lin, how is he?" Danny immediately asked.

"Doing okay. He's got a mild concussion and is in and out of consciousness, but he's responsive and oriented when he's awake. We've bandaged and immobilized his leg as a temporary fix until a surgeon can get here to operate."

"Let me guess. That bus crash," Danny griped.

"Yes, Danny. That bus crash. A lot of people were seriously hurt."

"Well, so is Jamie! And now he has to wait for some second string hack sawbones."

"Danny, Doctor Gregorie isn't a hack. She's a very good surgeon who is giving up the first day of her vacation to come back in. So be nice," Linda retorted. "Now, I'm sure Frank wants to see Jamie."

Frank nodded and followed Linda into Jamie's hospital room. For a second, he flashed back to a similar hospital room seven years before, and another son lying on a hospital bed. One who had looked so much like Jamie.

"Dad, come on. Don't go there. Jamie's gonna be fine. Take a look at heart monitor. Beeping right along," Joe argued to his father. "Give me a second and I'll wake him up for you."

The quiet, steady beeping of the monitor tracking his son's heartbeat pulled him away from those dark thoughts, and he quickly stepped to his son's side, taking in the visible injuries: the bruise to the side of his face and the thick bandage and brace on his leg. This is why Mary hadn't wanted Jamie in the NYPD. He sent a quick apology to his wife that he hadn't been able to prevent Jamie from being hurt. Frank laid one hand on his son's shoulder. To his surprise, Jamie's eyes drifted open slowly.

"Dad… hey," Jamie mumbled.

"Jamie, son."

"Don' wor'ry. 'm okay. Tired." Jamie's eyes began to close again.

Frank gently gripped his son's shoulder. "Go ahead and rest, then." He looked up at Linda. "Why is he restrained?" he asked, in reference to the straps that crossed his son's waist, chest and legs.

"Frank, the doctor doesn't want him moving his leg. He needs to stay immobile," Linda explained.

"That's stupid," Danny snapped. "Take those restraints off. I'll stay here with him and keep him from moving around."

"Danny, it's doctor's orders," Linda argued.

Danny began removing the straps on his own. "Yeah, well the last thing Jamie remembers clearly is being handcuffed to that dumbass's couch. You think he's going to react well if he wakes up strapped down to this bed?" Danny plopped himself down in the nearby chair. "I'll stay right here and keep him still. Sit on him, if I have to."

"It would be better for Jamie to have Danny here," Frank agreed.

"'s okay," Jamie slurred. "Erin says I don't need th' seat belt 'cause I'm sittin' betw'n Joey 'n' D'ny."

Frank looked up at his eldest son. There was probably a whole story behind Jamie's semiconscious rambling that he'd have to drag out of Danny or Erin later.

"Okay. You guys win. But Danny, you stay right here by his side until the surgeon gets here," Linda ordered.

==BB==BB==

And once Jamie drifted off again, Frank had left his son's room to check in on Edit Janko. As Danny has reported, she was impatiently waiting for someone to come tend to her injuries so she could get out of the hospital. They'd had her hooked up to an IV. Preventative antibiotics and a pain killer, she'd explained, before asking about Jamie's condition. He'd explained what he knew; watched her relax as she realized Jamie was going to be okay. Then he'd ordered her to let the doctors treat her injuries before giving her the next day off. And then, with no other official duties to attend to, he'd returned to the waiting room to wait.

Which is what he was doing a half hour later when Danny's voice echoed down the hallway. _"Lin! Over here!"_

Frank immediately hopped to his feet. What was wrong with Jamie that had Danny calling for his wife? He pushed past his detail and headed for Jamie's room. "Jamie?" he called as he strode through the door.

Jamie looked at him sleepily. "Hey… Dad," he mumbled.

Frank looked around the room. There was no sign of a medical crisis, but also no sign of Danny, who was under orders from Linda to be watching over Jamie. Frank quickly walked to Jamie's side and rested a hand on his son's right shoulder. "Where is your brother?"

Jamie glanced to his left. "Joey's righ' here," he said, then frowned at something. "Oh. Dan'y. He left t'go… go check on Eddie."

Frank frowned. "He's supposed to be watching you."

"'m okay. Joe's watchin'…" Jamie eyes started to slip shut again.

Frank gently squeezed his son's shoulder, glanced at the various monitors attached to his son (all reading within acceptable ranges, he assumed, since no alarms were sounding), then settled himself in the chair next to his son's bed. He hoped Joe wouldn't mind the extra set of eyes.

A few minutes later, a knock on the door broke into Frank's thoughts and a middle-aged woman in scrubs entered the room.

"Officer Reagan?" the woman greeted. "Oh. Looks like he's resting right now. And you are?" she asked.

"Frank Reagan." Frank stood and extended a hand to the woman.

"Doctor Evelyn Gregorie." She shook his hand, then glanced at the chart. "Commissioner Reagan. I see you have medical power of attorney for your son?"

"Frank. And, yes, I do."

"Okay, Frank," Dr. Gregorie replied. "I'll be operating on your son. It should be a relatively simple surgery, and not too lengthy." The surgeon briefly described, in more detail than Frank really wanted to know, how the operation would go.

"You expect a full recovery and return to duty?" he asked when she finished.

Dr. Gregorie closed the chart. "I do. Barring any complications, and he will have some rehab to complete to rebuild muscle strength."

Frank nodded. "He'll do it."

"Then let's get him up to the OR and on the road to recovery."

==BB==BB==

Danny stepped out of Eddie's room just in time to see the orderlies wheeling Jamie out of the room next door and his father walking next to Jamie's gurney. He jogged over to catch up with them. "Dad! How is he?"

"'m fine, Dan," Jamie mumbled. "Ed's okay?"

"Linda and the doctor are with her. She's okay," Danny tried to reassure his brother. "You focus on you getting better now, got it?"

"'kay." Jamie's eyes slowly closed again.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid this is where we part ways," Dr. Gregorie told Frank and Danny as they reached the doors to the operating rooms. "I'll send someone out to update you as soon as we're done. Like I said before, I don't expect any problems, so try not to worry."

"Thank you, Doctor," Frank told her.

As soon as the doors closed, Danny sagged back against the wall. "Damn it," he muttered. "What the hell was Jamie doing at Walter Barton's apartment?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Helping a young woman and her daughter leave an abusive situation," Frank told his son, relating what he'd learned from Eddie and Linda. "What were you doing there?"

"Looking for my suspect in a murder and a missing person case. I had no idea how messed up the situation actually was."

"And neither did your brother, I would assume."

"No," Danny admitted. "The missing person case was new this morning. Barton is our primary suspect."

"Was," Frank corrected. "I was informed he died half an hour ago."

Danny signed. There went there best chance of finding their missing person. "He didn't give SWAT any choice. It took us a while to get the wife and daughter out of the room - the girl didn't want to leave. Baraton was getting impatient. Yelling at Eddie that she and Jamie needed to leave. The SWAT guy was dealing with the family, so I had to call and try to talk him down. His whole life was collapsing around him. He knew we were closing in on him. He'd gone back to his apartment today to implement this crazy plan – take his wife and the money he'd stolen from his clients and start over on some island country without an extradition treaty with the U.S. He never said what his plan for his daughter was; only that she wasn't going with them. She didn't even factor in to the new life he'd planned."

"Best case scenario, he was planning to abandon her at their apartment, in hope that someone would find her before she came to harm," Frank surmised.

"Yeah, and that scenario went right out the window when he got home to find the cops already there. Damn thing is, if he hadn't hurt his daughter; if the wife hadn't taken her to St. Vic's this morning, he might have gotten away with that damn plan. He was just far enough ahead of us that he could have succeeded. But that scenario went right out the window when he got home to find the cops already there. He couldn't leave any of them alive to interfere with his plan. The SWAT officer said that when they made entry, Barton was aiming for another shot at Jamie or Eddie. They didn't have any choice."

Frank reached over to grip his son's shoulder and started to guide him down the corridor toward the waiting room. "Whatever happened, I'm glad you were there to watch over Jamie."

"Yeah," Danny muttered. He glanced back down the corridor toward the operating room. "Not sure I was the only one there doing that," he whispered.

"Of course you weren't," Joe told his big brother as he walked beside him. "And on that subject, I'm going to go keep an eye on our little brother." Joe turned, snapped of a quick salute to his father, and headed for the operating room.

* * *

 _Tomorrow: Jamie and Eddie compare notes, and Jamie has a conversation with his sibling(s)._


	9. Confessions

**Chapter 9 – Confessions**

Twenty four hours later, and Jamie Reagan had come to one very important conclusion. Unless you were unconscious, hospitals were the most boring place on earth. Especially in the late afternoon hours. He'd had plenty of visitors in the morning, when he'd finally awakened. His father had been there; had apparently spent the night in the recliner placed next to his bed, and had only left after the surgeon, Dr. Gregorie, had shown up and pronounced him well on the way to recovery except for a mild infection they were already treating. Then both Danny and Erin had showed up briefly on their way to work. Danny had promised to come back with lunch, and Erin had similarly promised to bring him dinner after work. The rest of the morning was taken up with medical procedures: poking and prodding, and cognitive tests to make sure all his marbles were intact, and napping. Lots of napping.

Danny had returned at noon with the promised lunch and some clothing items from his apartment ("Don't want a replay of Joe's torn suit story," Danny had quipped) and one other item – the newest edition of the patrol sergeant study guide. But as the afternoon wore on, the boredom kicked in. He'd tried to read the study guides, but the residual effects of the anesthesia were blurring his vision and making it hard to focus on the words. And the doctor had told him to avoid watching television today, to allow his brain to recover from the concussion. Jamie sighed again. _So. Bored._ All he could do was lie here and think. And he really didn't want to do too much of that, because his thought were too often going down one particular path he didn't want to follow.

Maybe he'd try reading again. It had been about two hours since he'd last tried. He picked up the study guide again, flipped it open to the sample test and squinted at the slightly blurry type. The first question didn't seem very difficult. He moved on to the next. Neither did that one. He'd pass this test easily. Then he wouldn't be Edit Janko's partner anymore, and they could start dating and she could wear some of those fancy dresses she'd mentioned owning, with her hair loose around her shoulders, and he could run his hands through her long hair and kiss her on her lips and …

A sharp rap on the door jerked his attention back to reality. He looked up and noticed his partner standing there, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair pulled back into a low, loose ponytail. Jamie put down the book he was reading. Well, really, pretending to read. Once again, his thoughts had strayed to the woman who was now standing in the doorway. "Hey, Eddie! They letting you out?"

Eddie walked toward her partner. "I just got sprung a few minutes ago. You look a lot better than the last time I saw you."

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better," Jamie joked. "Okay. Maybe not a _lot_ better, but better. You're looking good, as usual."

"Reagan! I hope I look better than 'usual.' These are my favorite jeans. Make my ass look like a girl's, unlike those uniform pants."

Jamie tried not to stare and his partner's behind. "Is that so?" he finally stammered.

Eddied tried to smile as she realized her last comment had almost stepped over a line they been dancing on for a year. "Whatcha reading?" she asked in an effort to change the subject.

Jamie angled the book toward her. "Patrol sergeant's study guide. Danny dropped it off this morning when he brought me some clothes from home for when I get to leave here."

"Reagan, are you thinking of leaving me and breaking up our partnership? Moving up to sergeant?" Eddie teased.

"Maybe." Jamie fidgeted with the edges of the book. "Or maybe I just needed something to read."

"Your brother, Joe. He mentioned that you'd make a good patrol sergeant."

Jamie looked up at Eddie. "What do you mean, Joe mentioned that?"

"Oh, it was some hallucination caused by that damn antibiotic," Eddie explained. "When I was having this allergic reaction, after we'd been brought to the ER. I was getting all sick and itchy, and this officer walked in, and we talked, and he told me he was your brother Joe and that I should call the nurse. Like I said, it was some hallucination inspired by you talking about Joe before the takedown."

"Yeah, except Joe showed up in my room about that same time and told me to have Danny go check on you," Jamie said with a frown.

"Oh, you're so funny, Reagan," Eddie began before she looked up at her partner and noticed the serious expression on his face. "Okay, now you're freaking me out. It _was_ just a hallucination, right?"

"I don't know," Jamie almost whispered.

"Well, I'm just glad Danny showed up to get help when he did," Eddie tried to sound cheerful. "Listen, Hailey is waiting for me downstairs to make sure I get home, so I'd better get going. I'll stop by to see you tomorrow, okay?" she said brightly as she backed up toward the door. But instead of heading to the main entrance and her friend, she found herself headed for the hospital's chapel. She'd given up on church and religion after it came out how her father had used attending church as a way to meet potential victims of his financial scams, but some kind of divine intervention seemed to be the only explanation for what she and Jamie had seen. She needed to thank someone for that.

==BB==BB==

Back upstairs, Jamie tried to focus on studying for the sergeant's exam, but now his thought were distracted not only by thoughts of his attractive partner, but by thoughts of Joe. _Eddie's story can't be real; it had to have just been her hallucinating_ , he tried to convince himself. _But if it was, it was a hallucination you had also, and that's just not possible._

"Hello, Jamie," Erin called as she walked into her brother's hospital room an hour later carrying dinner for the two of them. Jamie didn't respond. "Jamie?"

"Huh?" Jamie finally looked up from the book.

"Must be some plot in that book," Erin teased, then looked at the cover of the book Jamie had angled toward her. "The sergeant's study guide is that engrossing?"

Jamie smiled slightly. "Not really." He closed the book and set it down beside him. "Erin, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Jamie. Anything."

"Do you ever see Joe? Or hear him? Or feel like he's around?"

Erin sat down in the chair beside her brother's hospital bed. "Maybe. Just a general feeling like he and Mom are watching over us. Why?"

"Yesterday, he was there. I saw him, heard him yelling at that Barton guy and I felt him. Not like a presence. Like he was actually touching the back of my neck, like he used to do when we were little."

Erin stood up and quickly checked her brother's temperature. "You sure it wasn't a dream or a hallucination? You were concussed, and you still have a slight fever from that infection."

Jamie shook his head. "There's more. When Eddie was having that allergic reaction, Joe told me about it and that she needed help. That's why I made Danny go check on her."

"Danny told me about that. Jamie, it was the concussion. Your mind was playing tricks on you."

"Except Eddie saw Joe also, and talked to him."

"She did?" Erin sat back down in the chair while she tried to pull her thoughts together. "Jamie, you remember that Halloween when you were five? You hurt your leg…"

"Had some help getting hurt," Jamie muttered.

Erin fixed a quick glare on her brother. "…and you swore Grandpa Jack – who had been dead for six years – helped you bandage your leg and kept you safe until Mom and Dad found you?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"The point is, none of the rest of us saw anything. Maybe this is another situation like that. You needed some help, and God sent Joe as an angel or a ghost or a spirit or something. Maybe you're just more open to seeing the spirits He's sending."

"Maybe," Jamie conceded. He shook his head. "It's not like Joe hasn't done something like this before."

"What do you mean?"

"Back when I was telling the family I was becoming a cop. I swear, it felt like Joe was there each time, when I was talking to Grandpa, and Dad, and Danny and you. I could've sworn I actually heard him a few times, giving me hints on how to approach you guys."

"And did Joe tell you to come to me last?" Erin asked.

"Hey, that was Dad's advice. Joe told me approach Grandpa first, and Grandpa said to go to Dad next, and Dad said to wait on telling you and Danny until I was formally admitted to the Academy. The rest was just timing and Danny pushing the matter."

"That was the same time Jack and I split up. I remember that night. You know how to make Sunday dinner memorable." Erin smiled as she thought about her talk with Jamie that night over the dishes, trying to convince her baby brother that he was making the wrong decision, and failing miserably.

"You helped make it memorable, with you big announcement," Jamie retorted.

"Maybe," Erin agreed. Why did everyone have to remember the one time in _forever_ where she broken down in tears? But, in her defense, there had been a lot going on. It was only months after Joe's death, Jack had just announced he was divorcing her, and then, at Danny's prodding, Jamie had announced that he was abandoning his mother's dream for him to be an attorney to become a patrol cop. And it wasn't an entirely bad memory. The rare embrace from her father, grandfather and brothers had made it clear that they loved her no matter what Jack thought of her. _Brothers…_ "Joe was there that night, wasn't he?"

"Of course I was there, Sis. You think I would've let you go through all that without me?" Joe asked. "And I still think you should have let me haunt Jack just a little bit."

Jamie shrugged. "I felt like he was. But all those times, I never saw him; not until yesterday."

"Well, if you do see him again, tell him I said thanks for watching out for our little brother and his partner."

"Jame, you tell Erin, "You're welcome."

Jamie tried to smile. "I'll do that."

"On the subject of your partner, Danny told me something very interesting," Erin began. "He said he called Eddie your girlfriend and you didn't protest. Is that right?"

"When did I allegedly do this?"

"Nothing alleged. Danny heard you. And it was yesterday, when we were waiting for your surgeon to get here."

"You mean when I was concussed and drugged up?"

"I'm not hearing a denial here, little brother," Erin teased. "Just a pretty weak defense."

"I'm pleading the fifth. Where's my attorney?" Jamie teased back.

"Right here talking to you. And being right. I told you a year ago that you were interested in Eddie in a romantic way. I _knew_ it." Erin crossed her arms across her chest and sat back in the chair with a smug look on her face.

Jamie groaned. "Okay. Fine. You were right. But what am I supposed to do about it?"

Erin smiled. "First, you find out if she feels the same way," she began, then gestured to the book Jamie was holding. "And if she does, then you take the sergeant's exam. Although, you should do that in any case."

"You too?" Jamie griped. "Why do all of you keep telling me that?"

"All?"

"Danny and you. And Joe," Jamie admitted.

"Because you should do it. Because we're you're older siblings, and we know stuff," Joe argued. "It's time for you to move up, kiddo."

"Because…" Erin paused for a second. "Because you should. Because you're smart and good at what you do and you could be a huge asset to the newer officers," she argued. "We need more officers like you. Ones my office can work with. More like you, and less like Danny."

"Listen to the lawyer, kid. She make a good point."

"Okay. Okay. I'll take the damn exam," Jamie conceded.

"And you'll tell Eddie how you feel about her?" Erin prompted.

"Yeah." Jamie swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'll do that, too." Why was he more nervous about talking to Eddie than he was about taking that exam? "But what if she's not interested?" he finally asked his sister. "I don't know if we could go back to riding in the same car all day if that happened."

"Not interested? Kiddo, that lady is so _not_ 'not interested.' You should've seen her yesterday, all worried over you."

Erin leaned forward and gripped her baby brother's arm. "She's interested, believe me. But if I'm wrong – not that I am – then at least you'll know. You can get a new partner until take the sergeant's exam. And there's a new attorney in my office you'd like. Alison. Just out of law school at Penn. I'll introduce you."

"Erin!" Jamie protested. "I think one potential girlfriend is enough for right now."

"Fine," Erin relented. "But you'd better talk to Eddie soon, because Alison won't be available for long."

* * *

 _Tomorrow: Well, you can probably figure it out. :D_


	10. Admissions

_Again, thanks for the reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Admissions**

The next day, Eddie stopped by her partner's hospital room on her meal break. "Knock-knock," she called as she walked in. "Ready for lunch?"

"Come on in, Ed," Jamie greeted her.

Eddie glanced up at the television. "The Price is Right! My favorite sick day show!" Eddie exclaimed as she settled herself in the chair next to his bed. "I loved Bob Barker, didn't you?"

"I was more into the models," Jamie teased. "I heard Bob was, too."

"Aww, now don't you go dissing my man Bob," Eddie slapped at his arm. "Here, I brought you some of your favorite salad from that deli." She handed him a container, and pulled out a sandwich for herself. "Hey, they're playing Cliffhanger. That was the _best_ game! Do-da-do da, do-da-do-da, and then the little guy goes right _off_ the edge."

Jamie smiled at his partner. "You like watching people lose?"

"Well, no, but it's funny when the little guy falls off the cliff," Eddie tried to argue. She took a bite out of her sandwich. "And sometimes they deserve to lose. Like this doofus. Who thinks that curling iron costs $100?"

"It doesn't?"

"Geez, Reagan. Nowhere close. Not a simple one like that. See, look at him go. Up… up… up… and….. over the edge!" Eddie cheered.

Jamie and Eddie finished off their lunches during the next pricing game and the presentations of the showcases. After they had both made their guesses as to value of each showcase, Eddie turned to face her partner. "Bet you lunch tomorrow that I'm closer to the actual prices than you are," Eddie challenged.

"Without going over?"

"Of course, Reagan. That's the rule."

"Okay. I want another salad from the deli, just so you know."

"Aw, look at you. All overconfident," Eddie teased. She turned her attention back to the television as Drew Carey revealed the price of the first showcase. A price which was closer to Jamie's guess than hers. "Oh."

"Called it," Jamie smirked.

"Shut up. There's still one more. Double or nothing on that one?"

"Sure. Free lunch for two days from somewhere other than the hospital sounds good." He turned his attention back to the television just as the host was reading the price.

"And the actual retail price is….. $39,897," Drew Carey said.

Eddie did a quick calculation in her head. "Oh, Reagan. Over by three whole dollars. You lose. I'll take an order of the fried chicken from the cafeteria here."

Jamie sent a fake annoyed glare his partner's direction. "Don't you need to be getting back to work?"

"Lunch break, Reagan. Besides, McClary, my temporary partner, told me not to show up until ten minutes after noon. This nurse he's interested in comes on shift at noon. McClary says he's one good flirt away from a date."

"McClary is one good flirt away from a sexual harassment rip," Jamie commented on their station house's resident playboy. "He's got too much of a reputation around here for loving 'em and moving on to the next one."

"Speaking of flirting with the staff, next time you're in here, try to get a male doctor. A single male doctor. A hot, single male doctor, so I have someone to flirt with."

Jamie thought about what Erin had told him the day before. Find out how she feels. "Yeah, I'll do that. Or maybe you could just flirt with me instead."

Eddie looked at him, her mouth hanging open slightly.

Jamie winced. Damn. He'd totally messed this up. "Or I could flirt with you?"

Eddie continued to stare silently at him. "But we're partners," she finally said.

"Not for a while." Jamie gestured toward his injured leg. "I'm off work for at least a few weeks and on desk duty after that. Any maybe it's time for a change." Jamie swallowed hard. The next sentence he spoke was going to permanently alter their relationship, no matter how Eddie responded. "Eddie, I like you. A lot. Romantically, not just as a friend. And if you like me that way too, I think it's time we see where that goes."

For an eternally long moment, Eddie didn't say anything, and Jamie began to wonder if and how the monitors he was still hooked up to would measure his heart breaking.

Then Eddie finally smiled at him. "Hey, Reagan, those little blue dots on the hospital gown really bring out the blue in your eyes," she stated.

Jamie smiled back as he realized what Eddie was doing. "And you look good in that uniform. Makes me want to see what you have under it."

Eddie stood up and sauntered the two steps to Jamie's bedside, swinging her hips as seductively as she could in her uniform. She leaned in close. "A ballistics vest," she whispered around a giggle.

Jamie tried not to laugh. "Hot."

"Yes, it is. And tight. And bulky…"

Jamie reached his free hand up to cradle the back of Eddie's neck and gently pull her face toward his for their second kiss. Their first real one. Their first one as a couple. He didn't even try to fight the fireworks the feeling of her lips on his set off in his brain, and judging from Eddie's response, she felt the same way. He wished this moment could go on forever…

But in a hospital, that was not to be. The sound of someone clearing their throat from the door, followed by a familiar voice saying "Officers," put an abrupt end to it.

Eddie quickly stood up. "Commissioner!"

"Dad! Commissioner, hello," Jamie stammered.

"At ease, Officer Janko."

"Dad, I can explain."

"Oh, I think I have it figured out." Frank Reagan moved to stand beside his son's bed

"Dad, this isn't Officer Janko's fault. I initiated the contact," Jamie tried to explain.

Frank smiled at his son and what appeared to be his son's new girlfriend. "Not looking to blame anyone. Your feelings for each other were the worst-kept secret in the department."

"Really?" Eddie blurted out.

"I've heard there are several betting pools as to if and when you two would act on your feelings."

Jamie moaned. He hated being the topic of office gossip.

"I guess it's too late to get in on that action?" Eddie asked. At Jamie's questioning glance, she added. "Hey, I could use the money. You could, too, with the medical bills you're going to have and being off work for a while."

"On that subject, I assume you two will resolve any personnel issues this may cause before Officer Reagan returns to duty?"

"Yes, sir. Right away," Eddie snapped out.

"No, Ed, I'll request a new partner. I don't want you getting jammed up because of this."

"No, I'll do it," Eddie argued back.

"I believe Sergeant Renzulli is expecting a request from one or both of you, and has a plan to make any appropriate reassignments," Frank commented. "Now, Edit, will we be seeing you at dinner this Sunday?"

" _Dad!_ " Jamie jumped in before Eddie could reply. "I hadn't had a chance to ask her yet."

"Well, whenever my son does ask you, know that you are welcome."

"Thank you, Commissioner," Eddie stammered.

"And when you are there, Frank will do, or Mr. Reagan. Let's reserve Commissioner for official duties."

"Yes, Sir. Mr. Reagan. Sir." Eddie stammered. She faked a glance at her watch. "Oh, it looks like my lunch break is over. I should get back to work."

"And rescue that nurse from your partner's flirting?" Frank asked.

Eddie glanced at Jamie in confusion.

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "He's the commissioner. He knows everything."

Franks smiled as Jamie echoed the words he said so many times. It wasn't that he knew everything; he just had people in the right places serving as his eyes and ears. And he had his own eyes and ears, and had seen the interaction between Officer McClary and the latest object of his affection on his way into the hospital. From what he'd seen, it was McClary who would need rescuing. The nurse had been doing an admirable job of shutting him down.

"Okay." Eddie gripped Jamie's hand lightly, then quickly headed toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow for lunch?"

"Sure," Jamie agreed, and returned Eddie's wave good-bye as she closed the door behind her.

Frank looked down at his son. "Well, it looks like you've had lunch, and from what I saw when I walked in, you're feeling fine." Frank paused, enjoying the faint blush that crept across his son's face.

"Dad, I can explain," Jamie repeated his earlier comment. "We weren't dating before this. It just happened today. I mean, _that_ just happened today. I've liked her that way for a while..."

"I know, son," Frank interrupted Jamie's babbling explanation.

"…but… You knew? How?"

"I know everything," Frank teased, but then added his own explanation. "Your grandfather felt I needed to know what he'd learned from an overheard conversation between your sister and brother."

" _God_ ," Jamie moaned. Not only were he and Eddie the subject of department gossip, they were apparently the main topic of family gossip also.

"I trusted that you and Officer Janko would take the necessary steps to comply with regulations if the nature of your relationship changed. I don't believe that trust was misplaced."

"No, it wasn't," Jamie confirmed. "We've kept our relationship professional until now."

"As I expected. So, how are you feeling? You look healthier today."

"Head's better. Fever's down. Pain meds are working for the leg." Jamie confirmed.

"Good. Your grandfather wants to stop by later for dinner together. I think you have some interesting news for him." Frank gripped Jamie's shoulder, then turned to leave the room. "I'll see you then."

Jamie returned the good-bye, then leaned back against the bed and sighed. He'd really done it now, and right in front of his father. God, the timing couldn't have been worse. He'd flirted with and kissed Eddie at the exact moment his father had chosen to visit.

"Well, kiddo. You really know how to start a relationship in a big way, don't you?" Joe teased. "Start a relationship, and end a partnership all at once. And with Dad watching, too."

Jamie draped his left arm over his eyes. His professional partnership with Eddie was over, no matter how the romantic relationship went. And he wasn't sure he wanted another partner. He didn't think he'd have the same connection with anyone else like he'd had with Eddie.

"You really need to study up and pass the patrol sergeant exam now."

Jamie picked up the study guide for the sergeant exam and flipped through it. That would be a logical next step in his career. He did like the leadership role he'd fallen into as one of the senior patrol officers at the 12th. Newer officers had recently started coming to him for advice before officially going to the brass. Maybe he could still serve as training officer for new officers, the way Renzulli had for him. He could pass the exam easily with a little focused studying. Learn the procedures and the rules, and how to analyze the questions and choose the correct answer. He'd done that before, on the New York Bar exam, and passed with flying colors. The patrol sergeant exam couldn't be as hard as that thing was, he reasoned.

And then, he could focus on his relationship with Eddie. His girlfriend Eddie. He couldn't keep a smile of his face.

* * *

 _One last chapter tomorrow - the requisite Family Dinner Scene. :D_


	11. Telling the Family

**Chapter 11 – Telling the Family**

 _Jamie Reagan's Hospital Room_

"Do you think we should wake him up? It looks like he needs his rest."

"Yeah, we should, but not until I get a picture. Look at him drooling everywhere."

"Danny! Don't do that. He'd be embarrassed for anyone to see."

"That's kind of the point, Erin." Danny snickered.

The voices of his siblings gradually worked their way into Jamie's consciousness, and he forced his eyes open. "Hey, guys," he mumbled. He swiped a hand across his mouth. Damn. He really _had_ been drooling.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Erin pushed Danny aside and picked up book that Jamie had dropped onto his chest when he fell asleep sometime earlier. "How are you feeling?"

Jamie took a quick survey. "Okay. Getting better." He smiled as he remembered the events from earlier that day. "Lots better."

"Where's your trusty sidekick, kid?" Danny asked. "Kinda expected her to be here."

"Eddie had plans with her best friend tonight," Jamie said without thinking. "And Eddie is not my sidekick," he quickly added.

"So what is she?" Danny asked.

Jamie glanced from one sibling to the other. Did they know something about Eddie and him, or were they just guessing? Well, he wasn't going to confirm anything. "Ed's my partner, Danny. You know that."

"Hmph," Danny grumbled at Jamie's stubbornness. Now that Jamie was fully conscious, he clearly was not going to blurt out any more fodder for the family gossip mill.

Erin glanced at her brother, trying to figure out what was going on between her younger brother and Eddie. She'd been sure he would have discussed his feelings with her at lunch, and that smile would indicate that discussion had gone well. Maybe she could get something out of him over food. "Jamie, are you ready for dinner?" Erin asked.

"It's dinnertime already?" Although, now that Erin had mentioned food, his stomach was rumbling.

"Yup. Grandpa's getting it all set up down the hall." Danny motioned for the orderly standing near the door with a wheelchair, then tossed his grandfather's night robe onto the bed. "Here. Put that on and get in the chair, and let's go. I'm hungry, even if you aren't."

Jamie scooted to the side of the bed and draped the robe around his shoulders. "If you'd waited until tomorrow, I'd be on crutches," he grumbled as Danny and the orderly helped settle him in the wheelchair.

"Too bad. Gramps didn't want to wait." Danny exchanged a glance with Erin. He had a feeling there was a certain bet he had with his sister that was going to make him money tonight.

==BB==BB==

Jamie could smell his grandfather's dinner even before they got to the break room his family had appropriated. _Pot roast…_ Nothing smelled as good as Grandpa's pot roast.

"Jamie! There's my grandson!" Henry walked over and gently slapped him on the back. "Dinner's all ready for you. Push him up to the table right here," Henry instructed the orderly.

Jamie glanced around the room as the orderly settled him into place. They'd managed to get the entire family together, and on a weeknight. "Hi, guys," he greeted. "You didn't all have to come tonight."

"Uncle Jamie, we're all glad you're okay," Jack told him.

"And Grandpop said you have some news," she added with a glance at her great-grandfather.

"He did?"

"He did," Henry smirked.

"Before we get to that, let's say grace and serve. Pop, I think you should do it tonight."

Henry sent short glare at his son, but quickly complied. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head. "Bless us, O Lord, for these gifts which we are about to receive from your bountiful hands through Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Amen," echoed around the table.

Henry picked up the dish of pot roast and held it to his injured grandson. "Jamie, you get first pick."

"Thanks, Grandpa." Jamie served himself, then passed the dish on. He reached for the mashed potatoes and added a spoonful to his plate.

"So, Jamie, your father tells me you have some news for us?" Henry asked.

Jamie sighed as he felt the eyes of everyone in the room on him. "I've decided to take the patrol sergeant's exam next time it's offered."

As the family offered their congratulations, Henry frowned at his grandson. "And…"

"And what? I'm sure I'll pass it, and then I'll get moved up to patrol sergeant sometime soon after," Jamie explained, knowing he was avoiding the news his grandfather wanted to hear.

"Anything behind this decision?" Henry pushed.

Danny snickered. "Like maybe a certain short blond patrol officer?"

Jamie glanced around at the faces of his family, all of whom were staring at him. "Okay. Okay. And I asked Eddie to be my girlfriend," he finally added.

"It's about damn time," Henry muttered.

"And did she say yes?" Erin asked. "It only counts if she said yes," she added with a look at Danny.

"No, it only counts if they kissed," Danny argued back. "And the bet was when and where, not if."

Jamie glared at his siblings. "You two _seriously_ were betting on when Eddie and I would kiss?"

"Yeah we were, and I only win if it was here in the hospital, so 'fess up," Danny demanded

Jamie sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I'm not saying. None of your beeswax."

"That's okay. We can ask you, Francis." Henry added.

"Dad? What do you know?" Erin asked.

Frank sat up straighter. "Anything I may have witnessed when I visited your brother earlier today is his business, and his girlfriend's, not mine or yours."

Danny looked over at his brother and laughed. "You did it. You kissed her right in your hospital room! And Dad walked in on you two?"

"Not sayin'," Jamie muttered.

"You did. Look at you blushing," Danny teased.

Linda glanced sympathetically at Jamie. "Well, I think it's good that your brother is looking so healthy only a few days after surgery. Maybe we should let him eat so he can keep getting better?"

"We should," Jamie agreed with a grateful glance at Linda. He shoveled a bite of the pot roast into his mouth.

For a few minutes, the family concentrated on eating dinner, and conversation moved on to other subjects. As they were finishing the meal, Henry finally brought the conversation back around to Jamie and his new relationship. "Jamie, I'd heard several rumors about you and Edit. Had you heard them also?"

"Grandpa, she prefers Eddie. And I'd heard a few people say things. Didn't know about the betting pools," he griped.

"My friend, the Grand Rabbi, had a saying. 'When one person calls you a donkey, ignore him. If two, look in the mirror. If three, start shopping for a saddle.'"

"What are you saying, Grandpa?" Jamie asked, although he had a pretty good idea. He'd been ignoring what was obvious to everyone – his romantic feelings for his partner – for far too long.

Danny snickered. "I think he's saying that you should have bought a saddle a long time ago. Or, you know, an engagement ring."

"Dan, really? We've only been in a relationship for a few hours!" Jamie stated, then realized he'd fallen right into Danny's trap and confirmed not only the existence of his new relationship with Eddie but also the time it had started.

"Only if you don't count the three years you've worked together and socialized together," Erin added.

"Yeah, kid. If you count that, you've been together plenty long enough to be engaged. And you already have the ring. I saw that box hidden in your underwear drawer."

"God, do I not have any privacy?" Jamie griped.

"I wasn't looking for it, kid. I just happened to see it when I was packing some stuff for you to wear here."

"He already bought a ring?" Erin asked. "Jamie, you already bought a ring?"

"No. Well, I have a ring. I didn't buy it."

"Uncle Jamie, you didn't _steal_ it, did you?" Sean asked.

"No. Jeez. When Danny and I were sorting through Joe's stuff last month, I found an engagement ring in one of the boxes." Jamie explained. "Joe was planning on asking Angie to marry him. It looks like he never got the chance…" Jamie suddenly found himself choking up.

"I think he'd be honored if you used that ring, son," Frank jumped in.

Danny reached over to grab his brother's shoulder. "I second that."

"I third that," Erin added. "But I want to see this ring. Make sure it's pretty enough."

"I fourth that. And come on, Sis. Of course it's pretty enough. The jeweler helped me pick it out," Joe added.

Danny pulled out his phone. "I've got a picture. Thought you guys might want a look."

"Ohh, let me see," Nicki took the phone from Danny and showed the picture to her mother.

"That is a nice one," Erin commented. " Jamie, you've got to ask Eddie soon. The ring will look so good on her."

"Guys, come on. We haven't even had a real date yet," Jamie argued.

"So what are you planning for your first date?" Erin asked.

Danny nodded. "You need to make it something good, since you've already been sort-of dating for a while."

"I don't know," Jamie argued. "Haven't had a lot of time to think about it."

"How about ice skating?" Jack suggested. At his family's questioning glance, he added, "What? That's where I took Charlotte."

"Because Uncle Jamie can't ice skate right now, doofus," Sean informed his brother.

"So, Sean, what's your suggestion?" Frank asked.

Sean thought for a moment. "A soccer game. My team's playing next week."

"But that's not very romantic. How about an art museum?" Nicki suggested. "Mom met a guy there."

"Yeah, that would work right up until gimpy here crutches into a podium and knocks some priceless statute to the ground," Danny teased as he squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"A relationship didn't last very long. Thanks for the reminder," Erin added. "Jamie, a nice dinner is always a good choice for a first date."

"You know, we'll be having a nice dinner this Sunday," Henry suggested.

"Grandpa, I'm not bringing Eddie to Sunday dinner for our first date."

"How about a trip to the fishing pier?" Frank asked, only partially in jest. "It's a good way to get to know someone."

"Some good suggestions," Jamie said around a huge yawn. "I'll come up with something."

"Guys, I think it's time for someone to head back to their room," Linda suggested as she noticed Jamie's energy flagging. "The doctors will be doing their rounds soon, and I promised them he'd be back in bed by then."

Jamie smiled a Linda, grateful that she'd managed to find a way to cover for his exhaustion.

==BB==BB==

Half an hour later, Jamie was settled back in his hospital bed, thinking about his new girlfriend and their first kiss earlier in the day.

"Jamie and Edit, lying on a bed, k-i-s-s-ed," Joe improvised appropriate lyrics to the old playground song. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Eddie with a baby carriage."

 _Girlfriend. Wife. Mother of his children._ Jamie shook his head to stop that train of thought. God, he was getting so far ahead of things. He and Eddie hadn't even had a first date yet.

"So, kiddo, where _are_ you taking that little blond spitfire for your first real date?"

Jamie smiled again. His family had given him a few ideas for good ideas for actual dates. Like Danny had told him, he and Eddie were practically dating already when they had drinks or dinner together after work. He needed to throw in something more special than that for their official dates.

"Eddie has some good ideas. You should ask her," Joe suggested. "Spent some time with her tonight, by the way. She really likes you. You should've seen her, telling her friend all about you, discussing ideas for dates, practicing writing her name with yours last name, like you were already married or something."

Jamie wondered how long he would need to date Eddie before she'd be open to him proposing marriage, and how long they would need to be engaged before they could actually marry. Hopefully, not too long!

"Six months minimum. Wedding planning is a lot of work, or so I've heard. You'd better rest up." Joe rubbed the bridge of his brother's nose.

But all that sounded like too much work right now. He unsuccessfully tried to fight off a yawn. Between the lingering effects of the concussion, the pain meds and fighting off that infection, he was exhausted. "G'night, Joey."

"Sleep tight, little brother. I'll see you later. You've got some big events coming up – a promotion, an engagement and a wedding. Don't even think I won't be there for every one of them."

* * *

 _And that brings us to the end of this story. Thanks to all who read and reviewed and favorited!_

 _For those who were wondering, I am working on writing the seatbelt story referenced a few chapters ago. It (and the story behind Erin damaging her father's car) are going to be the next installment of the "There a Story Behind That" series._


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